


Everywhere We Go

by meyari



Series: Left Behind But Not For Long [6]
Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-08
Updated: 2011-12-08
Packaged: 2017-10-27 02:29:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 51,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/290668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meyari/pseuds/meyari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Continues the Left Behind But Not For Long Series: After the events in Everything I Do, Tim and Jason continue to explore their relationship while Jason reestablishes himself as a hero in Gotham and they deal with the strange and dangerous events their lives always bring up on them, both in their own universe and out in the Multiverse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everywhere We Go

"Sorry I'm late," Clark said as he hurried into the kitchen.

"Nonsense, Master Clark," Alfred said. He smiled at Clark and nodded towards several trays of food waiting to be taken into the dining room. "You're just in time to help."

For once it hadn't been emergencies keeping him from being on time. Lois had an article he'd needed to proofread and then Perry had several projects to give him. By the time that was done Clark had barely had time to visit Ma, who was spending the holiday with her friends (and the newest grandbaby in her friend's family) for Thanksgiving, before flying off to the Manor for dinner.

Clark tossed his coat onto the little table in the corner of the kitchen and took a tray in each hand. Alfred led the way with the prime rib, nodding his thanks when Dick appeared at just the right moment to open the door for them. The dining room was warm with candles and the many people filling it.

It looked like almost everyone was there. If Ma had made the trip then literally everyone Clark cared the most about would have been in this one room. From Bruce to Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian, Steph and Barbara, and on to Alfred, his whole family was here. It warmed his heart, especially after the last few years when things had been so hard for the Bat family.

Jason took one tray from Clark, nodding and smiling. It was the one with olives, which made Clark laugh quietly. He didn't expect the olives to survive long enough to make the rounds of the table. Tim helped Jason set the dishes on the table while Bruce helped Clark with the other tray. Alfred calmly carved the roast, placing exactly the right cuts for each person on the plates that Stephanie offered. Barbara was pouring the wine for those who were old enough to drink. By the time Alfred disappeared to return the trays to the kitchen everyone had taken their places around the table.

Clark smiled at Bruce sitting at the head of the table. It hadn't been long enough for him to get over the joy at seeing Bruce alive, whole and even smiling slightly at his family gathered around. Bruce caught him staring. His lips quirked in the little smirk that always made Clark blush brilliantly. The other times that Bruce had smirked at him that way and what had followed later in the bedroom were clear enough in his mind that Clark squirmed in his seat. Bruce's smirk went predatory.

"I believe we can begin," Alfred said as he reappeared from the kitchen. Clark loved the rare occasions where Alfred broke his general rule of not eating with the family. "Do please dig in everyone."

"What? No grace?" Roy murmured to Dick loudly enough for Dick (and Clark) to hear but not for everyone else to.

"Wait for it," Dick murmured back, laughing under his breath as Alfred sat at the end of the table. "But don't blink."

Once Alfred sat in his place, Bruce nodded at everyone. Jason wrapped an arm around Tim's shoulders. Across from them Damian stiffened and glared, at least until Tim very deliberately slid his hand into Jason's lap. At that point Damian appeared to decide that their side of the table didn't exist anymore. Unfortunately, that move had Stephanie blushing and biting her lip as she squirmed.

"Thank you, Alfred," Bruce said. "After the last few months I'm grateful that we could have everyone together again."

Bruce bobbed his head in a prayer that lasted only a couple of seconds. Clark smiled and took his hand. Thinking Bruce was dead was one of the most painful things he'd ever gone though, including when his Pa had died. Getting him back, even with all the danger that had come with getting rid of the fake Jason, still made his heart feel like it was going to explode. Bruce smiled at Clark and squeezed his fingers gently. He looked over at Tim and Jason, so much gratitude in his eyes that Jason blushed and ducked his head.

"I believe we all have much to be thankful for this year," Alfred agreed.

As Jason reached for the mashed potatoes, Alfred bowed his head for a moment in a longer prayer of thanksgiving. Damian copied Alfred's moment of prayer before reaching for the crescent rolls. Clark helped himself as dishes passed by him, passing them on to the others. There was enough food for an army, much less Bruce's growing family.

The talk ranged over subjects from past meals to villains that were likely to cause trouble tonight and on to vacation plans that they all knew weren't likely to happen. Clark listened, more than content to just watch everyone interact. By the time they were done and clearing the table, Damian was sniping at Jason and Tim. Roy and Dick had disappeared to the kitchen to wash dishes together. Stephanie seemed to be determined to sneak the last of the wine while Barb was equally determined to keep it away from her. They laughed as they jockeyed positions.

"I'm glad to be here, with you," Clark murmured into Bruce's ear. "It was…"

He couldn't complete the sentence. When Bruce turned and smiled at him it was obvious that he didn't need to say how lonely he'd been without Bruce. The same past loneliness turned into present joy showed in Bruce's eyes that lived in Clark's heart.

"I think we should slip away," Bruce murmured. "Let the kids deal with the mess."

Clark looked over at Alfred who had rescued the remainder of the wine from Stephanie and Barb at the same time that he redirected Damian into helping him carry leftovers back to the kitchen. Alfred saw the look and smiled at them. He nodded ever so slightly. Bruce took that as permission to grab Clark and ease towards the door leading out to the gardens.

Once they'd escaped from the others Bruce paused and turned to Clark. He ran a hand over Clark's cheek as if Clark was the most beautiful thing that he'd ever seen. Clark blushed and leaned in to kiss Bruce gently. The kiss went from gentle to needy almost instantly. Bruce wrapped his fingers into Clark's hair, holding him close so that they could kiss longer. By the time Bruce let him go, Clark was panting.

"Let's head to bed," Bruce murmured against Clark's lips.

"Rao but I love you," Clark moaned.

"Make with the speed, Clark," Bruce said, smirking. "I have some proper Thanksgiving prayers to offer."

++++++

"Aaaagh!"

Damian's shout of dismay echoed through the hallways and into the kitchen. Dick looked over his shoulder and then sighed as it was followed by furious shouts in Arabic. At his side Roy calmly continued drying the last of the pots and pans that Alfred had used to make their Thanksgiving dinner. All he did was raise an eyebrow at the sounds of Damian's fury.

"I have no idea what to do about him," Dick admitted as he drained the sink and dried the counter.

"Honestly, I'd just ignore it," Roy advised him with the full weight of his parenting knowledge. "Tim and Jason are more than capable of protecting themselves from Damian's outrage."

"It's his knives I worry about," Dick sighed.

They both turned as Damian ran in, cheeks blazing in a blush that looked worse than normal for his now fortunately occasional battles against Tim and Jason's relationship. He spluttered and pointed back at the doorway. Roy crossed his arms and leaned against the counter, letting Dick deal with the situation.

"What's up, little D?" Dick asked.

"They're infecting the others!" Damian said once he managed to stop spluttering. "Make them stop it this instant!"

Alfred came in as Dick opened his mouth to ask what was going on. His cheeks had a tiny spot of color on them, which was the most embarrassment that Dick could remember seeing on their beloved butler. Dick cocked his head at him and Damian, turned to Roy who shrugged and then shrugged as well.

"Okay, what's going on?" Dick asked.

"Make them stop!" Damian repeated.

He grabbed Dick's wrist and dragged him out of the kitchen and back into the sitting room where everyone appeared to have gone after dinner. Tim and Jason were snuggled together on the couch, staring quite fixedly at the other side of the room. Dick looked, with Roy peering over his shoulder, and then started laughing.

Steph was sitting in Babs' lap, kissing her slowly and thoroughly. From the way Babs' hands were caressing Steph's hip, she was doing a very good job of it. Damian made a strangled noise of complete outrage that didn't hide the way he responded to the girl's display. He looked like he was completely fascinated despite himself by the girls' kiss.

"Uh, sorry kiddo," Roy murmured to Damian. He moved into the room so that he could watch more easily. "I think you're on your own on this one."

"Wow," Dick breathed. "Um, yeah. Wow."

Damian stared at them with complete betrayal on his face. His hands went into fists and shook with emotion. Dick stepped back, halfway expecting that a knife would blossom out of his or Roy's stomachs at any second. Instead Damian shoved past them and ran out the door, going straight for the kitchen.

"Pennyworth! You must make them stop!" Damian bellowed. "The others are useless!"

Steph started giggling against Babs' lips. Babs laughed too, hugging Steph tightly as the two of them dissolved into hysterical laughter. On their couch, Tim and Jason were grinning as if they were about to break into laughter too. Roy shook his head and wrapped his prosthetic arm around Dick's shoulders, thumbing the side of Dick's neck in exactly the right way to make Dick moan and get hard.

"You guys did that just to freak him out, didn't you?" Roy asked.

"Oh yes," Babs said. Her smirk was a truly evil thing. Steph got out of her lap and sat next to her in one of the big comfy chairs strategically placed around the room. "He was being… difficult."

"Hey, don't stop on our account," Jason said. Tim poked him in the ribs and snickered. "You know the demon-spawn's going to be back. Do carry on."

"You just like watching girls kissing," Steph said as she blew a raspberry at Jason.

"Yeah? So what?"

Jason was so unrepentant about it that Dick had to laugh. He caressed Roy's prosthetic fingertips, grinning at the way he shuddered and wrapped both arms around Dick. Bruce and Clark had already disappeared, presumably to their bedroom. That meant that they could all do whatever they wanted, though Dick had no intention of doing anything terribly energetic with his stomach stuffed full of Alfred's food.

"You guys are contagious," Dick said to Jason and Tim. "Maybe we should all be making out when Damian manages to get Alfred to come and 'make us stop'."

Roy burst out laughing. He picked Dick up and settled into one of the armchairs with Dick on his lap. Across the room, Steph and Barb were snickering together as they started kissing again. Dick barely cared as Roy ran his prosthetic hand up under his shirt, sending shivers of arousal through Dick's body and down to his groin.

"I think we are contagious," Tim commented far too calmly.

"What I want to know is why we're the only ones not kissing?" Jason asked in a mildly outraged tone of voice that had to be coupled with a cheesy grin.

"Mmm, I think that can be fixed," Tim murmured.

Dick assumed that Tim started kissing Jason at that point but he was too busy kissing the breath out of Roy to turn and look. It seemed like about three years later when the door opened and Damian made a strangled noise at the doorway.

"See????"

"Perhaps you can help me in the library, Master Damian," Alfred sighed. "I do have a great many books to dust."

"But, but, but…"

Their footsteps disappeared down the hallway, Damian spluttering and protesting the entire way. Steph started giggling again. Then Jason laughed. Pretty soon Roy was laughing into Dick's mouth and Dick thought that he was going to cry he was laughing so hard. Babs was laughing and lo and behold even Tim was laughing out loud, the belly laugh that they so rarely got to hear.

Teasing Damian this way wasn't nice and Dick knew that there would be consequences for it but for right now he just couldn't bring himself to care.

+++++

"Gotham sucks!"

Tim laughed at the growl in Jason's voice. They'd gotten separated early on during the riots that had erupted in the Narrows. He wasn't sure what had set them off. Oracle hadn't been precisely clear when she radioed them the news of it. It honestly didn't matter. All that mattered was stopping the riots, protecting the innocent and getting back to Jason's side once this was cleaned up. His helmet's sensors told him that Jason was half a mile away and that the others were scattered across Gotham. Jason was the only one he was paying any real attention to in that regard.

His new suit was highly effective in scaring the rioters into stopping what they were doing. Those that wouldn't cease and desist were easily stunned with the pulse weapons in his gauntlets. Tim tried hard not to enjoy the fear on people's faces but it was difficult at times. He could see why certain people became criminals. The sense of power was rather intoxicating. It gave him a rush every time someone gasped, stared up at him and then begged for mercy. Of course he always gave it but each one seemed to think that they'd gotten lucky.

"Fuck!"

Jason's voice was sharp and alarmed, making Tim turn and stare towards the direction his helmet said Phoenix was patrolling.

"What's wrong?" Tim asked.

"Fucker! Goddamn it, don't you even think--!"

Jason's pained shout echoed through Tim's helmet at the same time that a brilliant flash seared his eyes. Even with the helmet's protection it was painfully bright. A rumbling blast wave swept over him two seconds later. Tim was already moving towards Jason's last location as the small mushroom cloud swept upwards towards Gotham's overcast sky.

"Phoenix!" Tim bellowed. "Report!"

Silence answered him.

"I have readings of an EMP burst," Oracle said in his ear.

"Was that a nuke?" Dick asked.

"It could not have been a nuclear weapon," Damian said in entirely too hesitant a tone of voice. "There would have been some information ahead of time."

"Firebird, report," Bruce said in his darkest tone.

Tim ran, ignoring the others. Bruce repeated his order, this time in a more worried tone. The words didn't mean anything to Tim. Only reaching Jason mattered. His helmet was shielded well enough that the EMP hadn't gotten through but the EMP made using the belt a bad idea. Still, Jason's shield should have held. His belt should have teleported him to the Cave. He should be safe. He had to be safe. There were no casualties, no people, nothing living close to the blast zone, other than one signature that wasn't Jason.

"Phoenix!" Tim bellowed, his real voice so harsh that the altered sound of his voice barely sounded human.

"He's gone!" a madman in purple and green giggled. He looked scorched but more or less intact as he crawled out from under some sort of shield. "Poof goes the birdie. Such a nice little birdie too. Are you a nice birdie, little flame-birdie?"

"Tim!"

Bruce's voice in his ear was a distant thing, as were the shouts of the others. Tim's cape settled around his shoulders and then closed around his body. Joker threw back his head and laughed as he pulled out a second bomb and pushed the trigger.

Tim watched him, shifting his hand to the emergency return button on his belt.

"What are you going to do, little fire-birdie?" Joker asked, the most manic expression on his eyes. "Will you kill me? Will you save me? Will you save everyone else?"

"There is no one else here to save," Tim said far too calmly for the rage in his heart. "Phoenix already teleported them to safety. There's only you and me."

Joker howled with laughter, seeming to love that answer. "Oooo, so it's a private game. Tick, tock, tick, tock! What's your move, little fire-birdie?"

"You seem to think that I have to play your game," Tim said as a blessed sound echoed through his helmet.

Jason's pained groan sounded in his ear. Alfred's voice was saying something about staying still, not moving. His voice was being carried by Jason's helmet to Tim's ears. The sound of Jason's voice made his heart beat again at the same time Alfred's worried voice made his blood turn to ice. Bruce, Dick, Steph and Damian all were asking questions and shouting orders in his ears.

"You have a different game?" Joker asked with what seemed to be honest interest. He tossed the bomb from hand to hand. The numbers ticked past 15 on their way towards one.

"No," Tim replied. The numbers said 13, 12, 11. "Why should I play a game at all? All I need to do is… run the clock out."

Joker blinked at him, the manic glee fading into confusion and then switching over to something twice as twisted as before. The numbers on the bomb went 3, 2, 1 and only then did Joker's expression change to one of fear, rage and absurd joy. As Joker screamed Tim pushed his emergency return button. The world lurched and then he was in the Cave, off by the showers in the place that they'd designated for emergency returns. If the Joker was as prepared as always he would have managed to stop the bomb before it went off. If not, so be it. Tim didn't have to save that madman, not after everything he'd done.

"You must not move, Master Jason," Alfred snapped in the closest to an order that Tim had heard from him in a very long time.

"Tim…"

"I'm here," Tim said, pulling off his helmet so that he didn't have to hear the other's questions and shouts. "What happened?"

"I believe the Joker's men knifed him when he saved them," Alfred said.

Tim strode to their sides and knelt next to Jason. There were far too many knives protruding from Jason's body. Tim's knees landed in a puddle of blood that was widening entirely too quickly. Jason groaned as Tim held him down. Once Alfred removed the Phoenix helmet, Jason stared at him as if he didn't recognize Tim or maybe as if he didn't believe Tim was actually there.

"I'm here," Tim said. "Don't move."

"Tim…"

Jason blinked at him twice more, reached out to take his hand and then his eyes drifted shut. His head fell back against the stone of the Cave's floor with a crack that made a tortured noise erupt out of Tim's mouth. Alfred said nothing as he worked to stop the flow of blood still seeping from Jason's wounds. It seemed to Tim that the flow was slowing for all the wrong reasons.

"Jason, you can't die," Tim whispered. "You can't."

He took a deep breath and set to work helping Alfred. Emotional reactions and reporting on what he'd done, or more accurately not done, would have to wait until later. Saving Jason's life was the most important thing in the universe at this point in time.

 

+++++

Alfred worked to stem the flow of blood from Master Jason's too-still body. He was far too aware of the amount of blood the young man had lost as well as the way Master Tim's hands shook as he assisted Alfred. Across the cave, the rest of the family asked, yelled and demanded information on what had happened. There was no time to get up and go to answer their questions. Jason's lifeblood was spilling out far too quickly.

"Master Tim…" Alfred didn't finish the warning sentence.

He didn't need to. Master Tim could see as well as Alfred could the way the flow of Jason's blood was slowing, the way his breathing faltered and fluttered. His face had gone paler than any living person's face should. Jason had lost too much blood and the knives had hit too many internal organs. One less knife or a quicker return to the cave would have made a world of difference. Unfortunately, there was a limit to what Alfred could do with the tools available to him.

"No, I won't let him die!" Master Tim said in a voice that was pure growl mixed with unbearable loss.

He did something at his belt, producing a bracelet that he slapped around Alfred's wrist. Before Alfred could warn the others there was a sharp lurch and the three of them were in a Cave that very closely resembled their cave, other than the dramatically higher level of technology.

The monitors were works of elegant art. The lights appeared to be something like LEDs, though he had little time to look around as Jason's breath fluttered and nearly stopped. Master Tim and Alfred both worked frantically to keep him alive.

"Goodness!"

Alfred started and stared at another version of himself. This version had glasses that seemed to hold more than glass in them if the faint reflections on them were truly heads up displays. They stared at each other for a moment that seemed to last several decades before the other Alfred nodded and reached for a first aid kit that appeared to be far too small to be of any assistance.

"Another severe injury I take it?" the other Alfred sighed. "Master Jason truly does have to be more careful."

He pushed Master Tim aside and calmly passed equipment over to Alfred so that he could assist in the process. They worked together to remove the knives, stop the blood flow, and stabilize Master Jason. To Alfred's amazement, the other Alfred applied several small machines that appeared to be automatic micro-surgeons.

The machines repaired the damage to Master Jason's internal organs, whirring and beeping occasionally as they worked. The other Alfred supervised them carefully, occasionally adjusting the one over the worst knife wound, the one that had likely penetrated his lung and possibly nicked his heart. One by one the micro-surgeons came off. Each of the wounds was properly stitched up when the machine was removed. Alfred and his opposite number carefully covered the wounds in remarkable bandages that appeared to mimic skin. They felt as though they would be quite waterproof, which would be a benefit indeed for Master Jason's recovery.

Master Tim hovered over them. He looked as though he wanted to help but there was no need. Instead he stood and stared at them while shaking far too hard. The young man truly had become quite attached to Master Jason in the last several months.

"Is he…?" Master Tim asked after the last wound was covered and properly bandaged.

"I believe that he will survive," the other Alfred said. "I would like to move him to one of our recovery beds in the cave and give him some replacement blood. He will certainly need to take it exceedingly easy until the wounds heal but the micro-surgeons appear to have turned the tide. Between them, the coagulants we applied to his wounds and the synth skin he should make a full recovery, though I expect that it will take quite some time before he can return to his normal activities."

"Quite fascinating," Alfred commented as Master Tim's shoulders sagged and he made a sound that was very close to a sob without actually being one. "We really must see if we can create similar supplies back home."

"I would be quite happy to give you the technical specifications for them," the other Alfred said with a calm smile that was just brittle enough to let Alfred know that his opposite was as shaken as he was. "I don't know whether your world has the technological development necessary to create them but we can certainly share knowledge."

"Thank you so much," Alfred replied.

Master Tim brought a stretcher which Alfred and the other Alfred carefully maneuvered Master Jason onto. The infirmary section of this Cave was another marvel that made Alfred want to stare as if he were Master Damian's age. They hooked up the blood and several quite cunning monitors. The monitors reassured Alfred by reporting messages that Master Jason would in fact survive his injuries.

Alfred sighed and checked his watch. While it felt to him as though they had been gone for several hours, in reality less than twenty minutes had passed since Master Jason's arrival in the Cave. Master Tim settled on the edge of Master Jason's bed, holding his hand as if it was his lifeline.

"I think it would be appropriate for me to return to our world, Master Tim," Alfred said gently. "I am sure that the others are quite worried and we do have riots going on."

"Oh, yes, sorry," Master Tim said, blinking at Alfred as if he'd forgotten that he was there.

"Let me get you those technical specs," the other Alfred said in the perfectly business-like tone that Alfred used when he was worried and trying not to show it. "I am hopeful that you will be able to use them. Master Jason does have a tendency to get himself into these situations."

"Thank you very kindly," Alfred said to his twin. "He does indeed have a talent for damaging himself during heroics."

In less than two minutes Alfred had the specs on a small flash drive and Master Tim had returned him to their Cave. He blinked back out immediately, leaving Alfred to sigh at the bloody mess on the floor and the worried voices of the others over the comms.

"Phoenix will survive," Alfred announced over the comms, prioritizing notifying the others as the first item of business. "Firebird has taken him to another location to obtain the appropriate assistance for his injuries."

"Where did you go?" Master Bruce asked in his darkest and most frustrated tones. "We've been calling."

"I went along to help stabilize Phoenix during the transfer," Alfred said, almost but not quite laughing at the bubble of awe and relief that welled up in his chest. "It was quite fascinating. Quite fascinating indeed, though I do have a bit of a mess to clean up here. Attempt not to add to it when you return, if you please."

The others responded to his mild jest with little prayers (Stephanie), a tutting sound (Damian), laughter (Dick) and a deep hum (Bruce). From the monitors he could see how their actions calmed and focused on dealing with the riots plaguing Gotham. Alfred watched for a moment and listened to their chatter. Once satisfied that they had indeed calmed, he turned to the drying patch of blood on the Cave floor.

"I suppose you're next," Alfred said as he got the steam cleaner from the closet.

As he removed the bloody mark on the floor he pondered what to serve as late night / early morning snack. They would certainly need something to eat after this day. He trusted that his opposite would ensure that Master Tim ate during his vigil at Master Jason's bedside. Truly, he couldn't imagine that any version of himself wouldn't take care of the boys to the best of his ability.

+++++

"Easy."

"I'm taking it easy," Jason complained as Tim carefully helped him stay upright. "I'm taking it so easy I'm practically not conscious."

"You are practically unconscious," Jay snorted from his spot under Jason's other arm, helping Tim prop him up. "Alfred gave you the good drugs."

Jason would have snorted back at him but there was no way he was going to do that to his stomach. His head swam a little but between Tim's (faintly vibrating) support and Jay's (rock solid) support he managed to make it from the return location in the cave over to the elevator. To be honest, Jason knew that he probably should have stayed in Jay's world for another couple of days but he would be damned if he'd stick around longer than he had to.

Jay's world wasn't home. This was.

"It's not all that different," Jay commented as they exited the elevator and started slowly shuffling towards Jason's room. "I sort of expected things to be really off."

"Nah, really pretty much the same, other than the tech," Jason commented. His words slurred a bit from the exhaustion, the drugs and the pain that was welling up but Jason ignored it.

"In here," Tim said, directing Jay to the right room.

It was his room rather than Jason's but that was fine. Tim's room was a good four feet closer. Right now those four feet were like four fucking miles. They helped Jason through the door, his feet getting more and more uncoordinated as the feet stretched to what felt like yards and then miles. Settling down in Tim's bed dragged a groan out of his chest.

Jay's face hovered over Tim's shoulder. Despite the blurriness that was making his eyes cross and go out of focus, Jason could see Jay's amusement at how similar Tim's room was to Temperance's. Perfectly neat and organized seemed to be a hallmark of a Timmy. As Tim carefully pulled the covers up over Jason he heard voices at the door.

"You're back?"

"How is he?"

"Whoa, that's different."

The last comment made Jason focus on the crowd by the door despite his blurry eyes. Dick was staring at Jay so blatantly that it made Jason laugh despite the pain that stabbed through him. While Tim huffed at him and tried to get Jason to stop chuckling Jay grinned at the others with their trademarked smirky grin of extreme mischief.

"What, you didn't believe that he'd met other versions of himself who weren't bug nuts?" Jay asked.

"No, the glasses," Dick said with one of his best mischievous grins. "I didn't think Jason would ever wear glasses."

"Fuck you, Dick," Jason grumbled.

Jay laughed and touched the frame of his glasses. They switched to shades and then computer screens, letting him scan everyone. Dick's expression went covetous, not that he said anything as Jay looked around the room. When he looked down at Tim and Jason, he raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"You need to go to sleep," Jay told Jason. "Damn, I didn't expect the pain killers to wear off that fast."

"M'fine."

Jason tried to snap at him but it came out as a pathetic little mumble that would have made him blush if he weren't so damned tired. Tim's fingers ghosted over his cheek as he fell asleep despite everyone talking over his head. He thought Tim stood up but there was still a weight on the bed next to him so he must not have. As sleep grabbed Jason he thought he might have mumbled something about getting Jay back home but there was no way to be sure. Didn't really matter, honestly, because Tim was more than capable to taking care of two Jason's, plus everyone else.

It felt like hours later when Jason woke up again. Sunlight streamed through the windows. Tim's warm weight was snuggled next to Jason, close enough for the warmth to be felt but not so close as to crowd Jason. He blinked to clear the sleep from his eyes and then smiled to see Steph camped out next to his bed with a book. She grinned at him, setting her book aside.

"Hey," Steph said in her quietest voice. "About time you woke up."

"Water?" Jason asked because his throat and tongue felt like leather.

Steph brought him pain pills and a little cup of water with a straw, letting sip from it until he nodded that he'd had enough. Tim slept through the whole thing. He looked ten times as exhausted as Jason did, which was no surprise. From what Jay and Temp had said Tim hadn't slept more than a couple of hours in the last few days. Even Alfred had had a hard time getting him to eat and sleep.

"Thanks."

"No problem," Steph said. "Glad you're back."

She was surprisingly comforting. Jason wouldn't have expected it given her normal bold personality, but Steph managed to convey concern, relief and happiness without it being overwhelming. Neither of them said anything as Tim was still asleep but he felt better having her sitting there with him as Tim slept. It didn't take terribly long before Jason fell asleep again.

When he woke up, the angle of the light across Tim's room told him that it was late afternoon. Tim wasn't in the bed with him but the hollow where he had been was still faintly warm so he couldn't have been gone for too long. Jason shifted position to try and sit up. The jolt of pain that went through him at the motion made him curse under his breath. Didn't really matter how much it hurt though. The bathroom was calling in a very big way.

"Hey, no moving," Dick said as he poked his head into the room. He was carrying a tray full of food. "I don't think you're ready to get up yet."

"Fuck you, Dick," Jason grumbled at him. "Gotta go pee."

Dick laughed and set the food on Tim's desk. He came over and helped Jason stand up. It was no surprise to Jason that Dick knew exactly how to support someone who'd been stabbed in the gut as they shuffled to the bathroom. After growing up the manor with Bruce it would be something that he had to know. He gave Jason the latest dose of pain meds like a pro, lips twitching at the way Jason pretended to growl at him.

The surprise for Jason was the way Dick couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of Jason once he was done relieving his bladder. It felt kind of like he was trying to memorize what Jason looked like just in case he disappeared for good. That was the sort of thing Jason expected out of Tim, not Dick, so it felt a little weird. He didn't call Dick on it because Tim reappeared just as Dick was helping Jason settle back into bed. Tim had that 'can't believe you got up' expression in his eyes again. Jason smiled and patted the bed for Tim to join him.

"So did you want to hear the news as you eat?" Dick asked.

"All I want to know is what happed with the fucking Joker," Jason said.

He took his soup without complaint, even though Dick and Tim had beef on rye sandwiches that made him jealous. There was no way he'd have the strength to work his way through a sandwich. Hell, there was no way his gut could handle digesting it yet, micro surgeons or no micro surgeons.

"Ah, well…" Tim's cheeks went beet red as he started picking at his sandwich's crust.

"Firebird let the Joker's last bomb's clock run out and nearly blew him up," Dick said. His words were admiring but there was a hint of worry in his eyes as he looked at Tim.

"I assumed that he would have a way to save himself or that he'd turn it off," Tim said with a little shrug. "Nothing says that I have to save him, not after everything he's done."

"Mmm, works for me," Jason said. He slurped his noodles as loudly as possible to try and break the tension he could feel building between Tim and Dick. Didn't work too well but it did distract both of them. "So what is the news?"

Dick grinned and settled into his chair to regale them with everything that had happened over the last few days. Once Jason finished his soup he slowly slid down the bed until he was lying with his head in Tim's lap. He hadn't been sure that Tim would allow it when he started but all Tim did was run his fingers through Jason's hair. Dick's voice slowly faded out as sleep crept up and snuggled him back into unconsciousness.

"Will you please be quiet?"

Tim's voice was an irritated hiss that was just loud enough to make Jason grunt and grumble.

"I do not think that he should be in your room," Damian hissed back at him. "He would receive better care in the Cave."

Damian sounded worried, which made Jason want to open his eyes. At the same time he really did not want to deal with Tim and Damian's continuous personality conflicts so he left his eyes shut and made a batting gesture in the direction of their voices.

"All he needs is rest and pain medication," Tim snapped at him.

"You are too attached to him," Damian snapped back. "There must be more that can be done. Surely you can see that."

"His wounds have been stitched up and bandaged with higher technology than we have," Tim said in that excessively precise tone that told Jason that he was about to lose his temper if Damian didn't back off. "He's received four units of blood, including one that had factors that encourage white and red cell growth. The bandages are synth skin, which will come off automatically when the wounds have healed enough. He's got the proper pain meds in his system and he's eaten. What else is there?"

Damian made that little 'tt' sound that meant he didn't have a way to disagree with Tim's words but he wanted to. It was accompanied by the sound of Tim's teeth gritting so Jason forced his eyes to open. The room was dark now; that gray darkness that marked very late dusk just before the stars came out. Tim was sitting on the side of the bed but his head was turned so that he could glare over his shoulder at Damian who hovered uncomfortably by the door.

"Qui' fighting," Jason mumbled at them. "M'tired. Wanna sleep."

"Jason!" Tim said, turning back to him with an apology in his eyes. "I was trying not to wake you up. It's not time for your next dose yet."

"I… apologize for disturbing you," Damian said so stiffly that it seemed like the words hurt him to say.

"S'fine," Jason said to Damian. He wrapped his fingers around Tim's hand to reassure him too. "Don't want the Cave. Too cold. Stop fighting, D. S'worth the price."

Even in the darkness Jason could see the way that Damian's cheeks flamed. Tim was probably the only one who hadn't figured out that Damian had a case of hero worship of scriptural proportions on Jason. Jason had certainly figured it out pretty damned quick after his return. Hell, Talia had sent him an email about it that Jason had deleted on sight. The last thing he wanted was to go back to those days. Tim was his anchor, not her.

"I'll leave you to your sleep," Damian said. He disappeared before Tim or Jason could say anything further.

"Back to bed," Jason sighed. He tugged at Tim's fingers weakly, the drugs and exhaustion dragging him back to sleep already.

"I am," Tim murmured. "Sleep. I'm right here."

Jason nodded. He didn't remember falling asleep this time. There was a long black hollow that was punctuated by someone making him swallow pills and then drink water. The next time he woke it was morning again. This time Bruce sat by his bed with a copy of The Art of War that he clearly wasn't reading. He was looking at the window, or more accurately, at Clark. Clark was off by the windows, eyes shut as he soaked up the sunshine. Jason could hear the shower in Tim's bathroom running, which told him exactly where Tim was. A tray with a simple breakfast sat by the bed, waiting for Tim and Jason.

"Morning," Bruce murmured.

"Hey." Jason yawned as he said the word, stretching it to three times its normal length. "Morning. Time is it?"

"About 10:00," Clark said from the window. "How do you feel?"

"Mmm," Jason hummed as he shifted position and then very, very carefully scooted up so that he could sit against the pillows, "Better. A little bit anyway. You guys taking turns watching over us or what?"

Bruce smirked. Clark laughed as he nodded. They both had amused but secretly hugely relieved expressions. Jason blew a raspberry at them, gesturing for Bruce to pass over some water and the morning dose of pain pills. He was just starting on the oatmeal crap that Alfred had made for breakfast when Tim emerged from the bathroom, still toweling off his hair. He lit up to see Jason sitting and eating.

That expression, the joy and relief, was the only one that really mattered to Jason. Sure, he was glad that the others were happy to see him alive and on his way to well but Tim was the only one he really cared about. Jason waved the bowl of oatmeal at Tim with his best grumble.

"The hell is this?" Jason complained. "I'm not hurt this badly!"

"Deal with it," Tim snapped at him with a little laugh that took the sting out of his words. "Your stomach isn't strong enough for solid food yet."

" _Oatmeal,_ Tim," Jason deliberately whined.

Clark wrapped his arms around Bruce's shoulders, laughing into his ear. Tim snorted and crawled onto the bed with Jason, taking his bowl of oatmeal without complaint. Jason kept complaining about the oatmeal as he finished it and then as he slowly slid back down in the bed. Once he was comfortably settled under the covers Tim's fingers started playing with his hair. The drugs were making him sleepy again as they drove the pain way. Rather than fight it off, Jason smiled, threw an arm across Tim's legs and let sleep grab him. There'd be time for reassuring everyone later, once he was off the damn meds. For now, let them watch and show their worry in their own ways.

He had Tim and that was all that counted.

That final thought left a smile on his lips as sleep won the battle once again.

+++++

"How is he?" Dick asked.

"Sleeping," Tim murmured.

The last couple of days had been tense for everyone in the manor. Dick didn't think that Tim had slept more than three consecutive hours in over a week as he tended to Jason's needs. They all took turns watching over Jason so that Tim could eat, bathe and sleep but it wasn't easy to get him to leave the room.

Tim ghosted his fingers over Jason's hair, brushing one strand out of his eyes in a gesture that held a mixture of tenderness and worry. Dick put his hand on Tim's shoulder to try and reassure him. Instead of relaxing, Tim tensed up, his whole body going so rigid that Dick thought he might break into pieces at any second.

"He's getting better," Dick whispered.

"I know," Tim said.

Dick kept his hand on Tim's shoulder until the tenseness abruptly drained away and Tim's shoulders slumped. He sagged ever so slightly to the right so that he was pressed against Dick's side. When Tim's head rested against Dick's side, Dick sat down and pulled Tim into his arms. Tim whimpered as if he were still the little boy who'd been far too serious at the circus so many years ago.

"Shh," Dick whispered while rubbing Tim's back. "It's okay, Tim. It's okay."

Tim shook his head no. His shoulders were shaking with suppressed tears. Dick just held him, not at all surprised that the silent tears turned into an exhausted sigh as Tim slowly relaxed. Given how exhausted he was, Tim had to be winding himself up constantly. By the time Tim fell asleep, Jason's eyes were open and watching the two of them. Jason smiled so tenderly that Dick blushed.

"I can lay him down," Dick offered quietly so that Tim wouldn't wake.

"Nah, keep holding him," Jason said just as quietly. "Sleeps better if someone's holding him and he's afraid to snuggle up right now."

"Oh Tim," Dick sighed.

He shifted position so that he could hold Tim for as long as he had to. Jason moved his feet so that there was more room at the foot of the bed. Once he was situated with Tim in his arms, Dick let himself stare at Jason. The staring had become a thing since Jason got back. Dick wasn't sure what had started it, but he thought that it was watching Jason use the washing machine of doom restore the universe.

Jason had been so different from the Jason that they'd been dealing with; strong, intelligent, driven and utterly devoted to Tim. The contrast was so stark that Dick still couldn't understand how they could ever have believed that the other Jason was the true Jason. Hindsight was 20-20 but Dick still felt like he should have known somehow.

"You keep staring," Jason commented. He nudged Dick's hip with one toe, a smirk blooming on his face as he carefully stretched.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Dick replied.

"Eh, it's fine," Jason said. "Just expect that out of Tim and Damian, not you. Not sure where it's coming from."

"He really is stuck on you," Dick chuckled because he had no intention of explaining why he was staring.

"Damian or Tim?" Jason asked.

He nudged again, a little harder this time. Dick shrugged the shoulder that didn't have Tim's head resting against it. Alfred had already talked to Dick about it. He was being irrational and he knew it, but Dick couldn't escape the sense of guilt that he'd so readily accepted the crazy Jason. He should have _known._

"Damian," Dick said after a long enough pause for Jason to nudge him again. Jason put just a little rub of his toes into the nudge, turning it into a weird foot-caress through the blankets.

"Thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread," Jason snorted and grinned. "Tim still hasn't figured it out. Might have to tell him."

"And ruin the betting pool on when Tim figures it out?" Dick asked with mock incredulity that made Jason snicker at him. "I am trying to deflect him a bit."

"If you can get Tim away later on I'll talk to Damian about it," Jason said.

They both went silent as Tim sighed and mumbled something. A huge grin spread across Dick's face as Tim wrapped his arms around Dick and snuggled closer. Jason had to put his hand over his mouth to muffle the laughter at Dick's delight. He'd never known that Tim was this snuggly while asleep. Tim was so prickly while awake that he wouldn't have expected it.

"Cute!" Dick whispered with his heart trying to explode out of his chest from sheer happiness.

"So is," Jason agreed. His grin looked as wide as Dick's felt. Jason sighed and ever so carefully sat up. "Keep snuggling. I gotta pee."

"Can you make it by yourself?" Dick asked.

Jason nodded and slowly, carefully hobbled his way to the bathroom. He was moving better than he had been but it was a far cry from his normal strength and power. Dick let his lips rest against the top of Tim's head and shut his eyes once the bathroom door was close.

"We almost lost him," Dick whispered into Tim's hair. "Almost lost him for good."

Tim's arms tightened around Dick's stomach and then relaxed as if he'd felt Dick's worry in his sleep. Dick deliberately relaxed his body so that it wouldn't disturb Tim. Jason flushed the toiletand then slowly hobbled his way back to the bed. Dick couldn't do much for either of them but he could do this.

"Want me to stick around?" Dick asked once Jason was under the covers again.

"Long as you want to," Jason said with a tired nod. "He needs the sleep really badly. Really makes a difference if he can cuddle while sleeping."

"Okay," Dick said. "Go back to sleep. I'll be here until he wakes up again."

"Thanks, Dickiebird," Jason murmured through a yawn.

He fell asleep so quickly that Dick sighed again. No, there wasn't much that he could do for Tim or Jason, but he could watch while they slept and give Tim someone to hug until Jason was strong enough to do the hugging himself.

+++++

"You sure you're okay?" Tim asked Jason once he was properly settled on the couch in the library.

"I'm fine," Jason drawled. "Quit fussing, Tim. Didn't pull a thing getting here."

"You're sure?" Tim repeated.

He'd been asking that far more than he should in the last week or so. After two weeks of recuperation, Jason was finally up and moving around. Jason still moved slowly and carefully as the worst two wounds were still tender but the synth skin had fallen off quite some time ago.

"C'mere," Jason chuckled.

He caught Tim's hands and pulled him down onto the couch. Tim tried to avoid landing in Jason's lap but Jason used leverage and Tim's deep unwillingness to struggle with him right now to ensure that he ended up straddling his thighs. The terror that had haunted him since he'd seen Jason's life slowly draining away battered at Tim's control for a long moment.

Jason kissed him slowly and tenderly. Tim whimpered, using his arms to brace himself so that he wouldn't put too much pressure on Jason's chest. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Jason when he was finally getting better. A little rumble vibrated against Tim's lips as Jason growled quietly.

"Hey, it's okay," Jason whispered against Tim's lips. "You're not hurting me, Tim."

He kept kissing Tim, little light kisses that feathered across Tim's face and down his neck. At the same time his hands rubbed Tim's ribcage. They felt warm, as if Jason's hands were heating pads, or maybe it was that Tim was chilled from his fear and worry. Tim whimpered and leaned very carefully into Jason to deepen the kiss.

"Whoops, sorry!" Dick said from the doorway.

"Dick, your timing sucks," Jason grumbled. He kept his arms wrapped around Tim so that he couldn't escape the way he wanted to.

"Hey, I just thought you two might like some of Alfred's pie," Dick said ruefully. There was a tray with two slices of fresh blueberry pie and two cups of coffee in his hands. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

"Leave it and go the fuck away, will you?" Jason snarled.

Tim couldn't help but laugh at the grouchiness. They were both hard as a rock. Tim had been unwilling to do anything sexual with Jason since his injuries, which meant that they'd both gone without this entire time. Obviously, Jason was feeling good enough that he wasn't happy with that anymore. Jason snorted loudly at Dick's eyeing them (without wincing in pain) and ran his hands over Tim's back.

"Here you go," Dick said entirely too cheerfully as he put the tray on the coffee table in front of the couch. "I'll lock the door on my way out."

"Yeah right," Jason drawled. "You'll leave it open so you can peek. Not fooling me, Dickie-bird."

"Don't you dare," Tim snarled. His cheeks went flaming red at the sheer thought of Dick watching them together.

Dick laughed out loud and headed off to the doorway. He locked the door with exaggerated care and waved at them before shutting it. Jason snorted, pulling Tim closer in the moment of relaxation that came after the confirmation that they would be left alone for a while. Tim gasped and froze, well aware that he was being irrational about hurting Jason.

"I'm not going to break, Tim," Jason murmured. "You can cuddle up."

"I don't cuddle," Tim lied, gingerly doing exactly that.

"Mmm-hmmm," Jason chuckled. "Sure you don't, Timmy."

He'd almost forgotten how broad Jason's chest was. The way his arms felt as they wrapped around Tim's back made Tim moan. Even though Tim had been right there the entire time Jason healed, he felt like he'd missed Jason the whole time. Of course he'd spent all his time worrying that he was going to lose Jason or reliving the struggle to save Jason's life so that wasn't too much of a surprise.

Jason pinched Tim's butt.

"Hey!" Tim squawked and glared at Jason.

"Thinking so hard there's practically no room for you in my lap," Jason complained, though he was grinning as he said it. "Too many thoughts filling up the space."

Tim swallowed a laugh and settled back into Jason's lap. Jason's fingers trailed along Tim's ribcage and spine, exploring his body as if he hadn't touched Tim in decades. Every movement sent shivers of need through Tim. Pretty soon Tim pulled back a little so that he could kiss Jason. Despite the ferocity of Jason's hard on and Tim's whimpering into his mouth, Jason kept the kissing slow, gentle and tender. Before Tim realized it, Tim was plastered against Jason's chest and slowly rocking their hips together in an effort to get Jason to be more forceful. He froze the instant he noticed what he was doing. Jason snorted at Tim.

"Not hurting me, Tim," Jason murmured. "Not at all."

"Should I stop?" Tim asked, his heart beating so hard that he felt like it was going to leap straight through his chest.

"Don't you fucking dare," Jason complained. His pout would have done Damian proud.

Tim laughed quietly and then started to rock again. He wasn't surprised when Jason's hand slid between them to free their erections. There were a million reasons in Tim's head not to continue but the one reason to keep going was right there in front of him. Jason's face, full of love and want, was so much more powerful than the fears that had been holding Tim back all this time.

Jason's hands curled around Tim's hips, gently encouraging him to be bolder in his movements. He watched Jason for any sign of flinching, listened to his breathing for a gasp that would indicate pain. All he saw and heard was Jason enjoying what they were doing. Tim relaxed a little more and allowed his hips to rock their cocks together.

"Fuck yes," Jason groaned. "God, Tim, missed touching you so damned much!"

"Jason…" Tim moaned.

Their movements against each other sped up, always with Jason's active encouragement. It had been long enough that Tim suspected that he wasn't going to last. He was right. It took less than three minutes before he was on the edge. Jason twisted and thrust his hips. The extra stimulation was just what Tim needed. He bit his lip so that he wouldn't shout as he came. Jason thrust a dozen more times against Tim's slippery stomach before he came too.

"You are not allowed to freak out this badly ever again," Jason sighed once they'd caught their breath. "Never."

"Didn't want to hurt you," Tim murmured as he cleaned the two of them up. "Besides, I won't freak out if you don't get hurt that badly again."

"Idiot," Jason chuckled. "I'm tougher than you think I am."

"Mmm, maybe," Tim allowed.

He snuggled up next to Jason on the couch, finally allowing himself to actually hug Jason. The way Jason grunted at the hug made Tim stiffen until he realized that Jason was gazing at the tray with the pie and coffee far too intently. Jason looked down at him with a hopeful expression that Tim couldn't help but snort at.

"I don't suppose you'd go get that?" Jason asked.

"No," Tim said, hugging Jason a little more tightly. "I'm comfortable right here."

Jason laughed and wrapped his arms around Tim. "Oh well, I guess cold coffee will be good enough. Least you're finally touching me again. Thought I was going to have to knock you down and beat you into submission first."

Tim shrugged as he set his head on Jason's shoulder. Truthfully, that might have been the only way to get through to him if Dick hadn't interrupted them making out. It had been just enough to get Tim moving through his fear again. He sighed and then smiled as Jason's lips pressed against his forehead.

"Really could use some pie though…" Jason mused.

"Not moving!"

+++++

"The hell is this?" Jason asked in a highly amused undertone as he and Tim headed into the main living room that everyone used.

"Christmas decorations," Tim answered.

He snickered at Jason's look, shrugging far too casually. The entire Bat clan appeared to be there, from Babs on down to Cass who looked like she'd much rather be somewhere else rather than helping Steph put up mistletoe over in one corner of the room. No one exactly stopped what they were doing when Jason and Tim came in but they all seriously slowed down. Jason could literally see them struggling not to stare at him as if they were looking for holes in his gut.

"And I thought you had it bad," Jason muttered to Tim.

"We were all worried," Tim said.

He unfolded himself from under Jason's arm, heading over to help Alfred with a big box of decorations that came from generations of Waynes. Rather than help them, Jason headed over to where Clark and Bruce were setting up a huge Christmas tree. Bruce was adjusting the base to keep it straight while Clark supported it. He was so far inside of the tree that he had practically disappeared into the branches.

"Little to the left, guys," Jason said.

"Really?" Clark asked. He tried to peer around the branches enveloping him, failed and then shrugged. After a slight adjustment the tree stood straighter.

"Much better," Jason said. The tree was damned near fifteen feet tall and stretched a good yard and a half out from the base in every direction. Pretty as hell but Alfred was going to be cleaning up needles forever and a half because of it.

"Thank you," Bruce growled from the floor.

He came out from under the branches covered in loose needles and bits of moss. Clark emerged more or less intact though there was a bit moss stuck in his hair. Jason snickered at the way Bruce brushed the needles off as if they were Poison Ivy's thorns. Clark started helping and that led to Bruce getting the moss out of Clark's hair and then Jason decided he'd rather be somewhere else because he really didn't need to watch them looking at each other that way. Cute, sweet, awesome that they were happy but Batman looking that sappy was just not something he wanted to deal with.

"I do not understand," Cass said in her too quiet voice. She was staring up at the mistletoe with a frown that made it look like she thought it was out to get her.

"It's great," Steph said enthusiastically. "When people stand under the mistletoe together they're supposed to kiss."

Jason snickered and had to hide a grin behind one hand at the alarm that immediately crossed Cass' face. She looked at Steph, looked back up at the mistletoe and then apparently decided that a tradition wasn't to be ignored, no matter how odd it was. Steph was still grinning when Cass stood on her toes to press a business-like kiss against Steph's lips. She wasn't grinning anymore when Cass stopped.

"I still do not understand," Cass said and firmly stepped away from the mistletoe, leaving Steph gaping at her.

"You are still infecting the others," Damian growled behind Jason.

"Don't think so in that case," Jason chuckled. He grinned at Damian's pissy expression. "Wanted to talk to you for a minute."

"I was helping Alfred with the ornaments," Damian said warily enough that Jason was pretty sure that he knew it was the long avoided talk about his attitude towards Tim.

"He's got help," Jason said. "Come on, Little D. Got things to say to you."

He headed out into the hallway. When he looked back Damian was right behind him and everyone was watching them, especially Tim. Jason waved a hand at them and rolled his eyes. Tim was the only one who didn't relax. The others all did to one degree or another. Clark would probably listen to them talking but he wouldn't tell the others what he heard so it was okay.

Jason headed to the kitchen, the universally agreed upon safe place in the house. Damian hesitated at the door while Jason got them coffee. From the way he took his mug of coffee, Damian expected this to be a really bad conversation. Hopefully it wouldn't be that bad, though Damian getting his panties in a wad would make it suck pretty hard.

"You know, I always was jealous of Dick," Jason said, sipping his coffee and nodding that it was just right. Damian stared at him, confusion obvious on his face. "He'd been here first, was the original, best Robin. Bruce talked about him all the damn time. Hated being compared to him. Then I met him and damn but the guy was just too nice to hate, even if all that cheerfulness is still damned annoying."

"Quite so," Damian said with a nod of complete agreement.

"Thing is," Jason continued, "I wasn't actually seeing him. I was seeing some fucked up image of him in my head that only partially matched with what Dick really was."

Damian stiffened so much that Jason snorted. He reached out and deliberately ruffled Damian's hair in exactly the way that no one, from Talia on down ever did. It made Damian hiss like an offended cat who'd been pet the wrong way. No matter how deadly the kid was Jason would always think it was a crying shame he never got touched or hugged.

"Not talking about you and Tim," Jason said calmly even though Damian looked like he was thinking about which of his hidden weapons to pull out and stab Jason with. "Talking about us."

"I do not understand where you are going with this discussion then," Damian said warily.

"Look, I was compared to Dick, then Tim was compared to me and Dick," Jason explained. "Then Steph got compared to all three of us. And now you're compared to all four of us. It's fucked up. Talia did the same damned thing, comparing me against Bruce and you against me. I'm nothing like you, kiddo. You're nothing like Tim, Dick, Steph or Bruce. You're you. I'm me. They're them. You'll be your sort of Robin and eventually you'll probably be your sort of Batman too. There's no point to looking at Tim and seeing all the ways he doesn't measure up to some imaginary standard or looking at me and seeing all the ways you don't measure up. We're too different."

"…You were not this insightful before," Damian said. He stared into his mug of coffee as if it held the secrets of the universe, or maybe just an answer to what Jason had said.

"Eh, seventeen hundred worlds and nearly dying a few times will do that to a guy," Jason said and shrugged. "I'm not saying you have to do anything different but I'd really rather you didn't try and turn yourself into another version of me. Rather see what you can become if you let yourself be your best. It'll be something to see."

Damian's cheeks slowly went red. He looked like he was never, ever, in a million years, going to look up from his mug of coffee. Jason chuckled and ruffled Damian's hair again. This time he didn't pull away or hiss or even look angry. The blush got brighter and Damian leaned ever so slightly into the contact.

"Come on, kiddo," Jason said. "Finish your coffee. We gotta keep Steph from molesting Cass."

Damian groaned loudly and gulped his coffee down. When he stood it was with the air of a man going into battle. Jason grinned and followed Damian out of the kitchen and back to the living room. Maybe the little conversation would make a difference or maybe not. Either way, he had to try. Now he just had to have some sort of conversation with Tim so that he realized it was hero worship driving Damian, not pure hatred of Jason and Tim being together.

 

+++++

"These aren't yours, are they?" Tim asked.

"Hmm?" Jason said. He poked his head out of his closet and then blatantly stared at the extra long shimmery silver Lurex socks that Tim held out to him. "Ah, no. I stopped wearing thigh highs when I was fourteen. Bulked up to much and I looked like a drag queen. Well, other than that one time I pretended I was a drag queen but the socks were rainbow then."

"They're certainly not mine," Tim said with a puzzled shrug. "I always prefer green or blue Lurex. Silver doesn't work with my coloring."

"Probably Dick's," Jason said. "You know Dick and his sparkly things. Might ask him."

"Will do," Tim replied.

He folded the socks back up into a neat bundle and headed down the hallway to Dick's room. Dick had spread every single shirt that he had across every available surface of his room, including the floor, bed, chairs, and his desk. It looked to Tim like he was either color-coding his closet or something had gone missing in the wash.

"Hey," Tim said and then backed off a step when Dick all but pounced on him.

"You found it?" Dick said and then visibly wilted when he saw what was in Tim's hands. "That's not my Hawaiian pineapple shirt."

"No, but I was wondering if they're your socks," Tim said.

He unfolded them and held them out to Dick. Dick raised an eyebrow, took them from Tim and then measured them against his leg. They barely came to his kneecap unstretched so he handed them back to Tim with a confused shrug that made Tim smile at him.

"Sorry, not mine," Dick said. "Nice style. I've got similar ones in here somewhere but I think they're tights, not socks. I'd guess that they're Steph's. She does like some wild socks when she's on her own time."

"Those are mostly purple," Tim said with a little sigh. "I'll ask though. Good luck on the shirt. It's not in my or Jason's laundry, FYI."

Dick nodded and went back to his closet to pull out even more obnoxious shirts. Steph wasn't in her room but he heard her downstairs. Tim found her in the laundry room folding what looked like ten dozen pairs of purple underwear and bras with varying combinations of black, white, red or pink lace on them. She smiled at him and then cocked her head at the socks in his hands.

"Nice, whose are they?" Steph asked.

"I don't know," Tim sighed. "Not mine, Jason's or Dick's. I was hoping they were yours."

"Uh-uh," Steph said. "I prefer fishnets over Lurex. Too hot and scratchy. Might try Clark. It looks like the sort of thing Bruce might have made him wear for a bet. You know, like the whole maid outfit thing a while back."

Tim groaned at that mental image and went on his way with Steph's laughter ringing in his ears. None of them really wanted to think about that little episode, though it was nice to know that Bruce and Clark had a playful side to their so-serious relationship. Still, Clark in a frilly French maid outfit had been a little much as far as Tim was concerned. Dick had only had commentary on how well the outfit fit while Damian had run away howling about his eyes. Of course, it was their own fault that they'd seen anything. The door had been quite firmly locked but curiosity had gotten the better of all of them.

Clark was in the kitchen with Bruce, sipping coffee together. They looked up and then frowned nearly identical frowns at the socks in Tim's hand. Bruce looked at Clark and raised an eyebrow. Clark shook his head no and shrugged. His raised eyebrow at Bruce got a very firm headshake no from Bruce.

"Not ours," Bruce said. "Mine are black and silver, not silver on silver."

"Ahem," Clark huffed. He went so blazingly red that Tim blushed too.

"Never mind," Tim said, waving any further explanations off. There was another mental image he really didn't want in his head. "I'll see if Alfred knows. I can't imagine that they're Damian's."

He heard Alfred's voice carrying down the hallway from the bedrooms, coupled with Damian sounding like he was having a snit fit. Tim gritted his teeth and headed back upstairs, the socks firmly gripped in his hand. There was no way that they could be Damian's. They'd be butt high, not thigh high on him.

"I am sure that we will locate your socks, Master Damian," Alfred said in that tone reserved for young boys having highly annoying temper tantrums over nothing. He sounded like he was contemplating spankings and denying Damian his rocket-fuel Arabic coffee if he didn't calm down.

"They must be here somewhere!" Damian said. He sounded like he was on the verge of panic for some reason.

"Silver on silver Lurex thigh high socks for an undercover mission?" Tim asked as he pushed the door open.

The room was complete chaos. Damian had taken everything out of his chest of drawers, out of the closet and possibly out of other people's closets. All of the clothing was strewn around the room. Alfred had several pairs of socks draped over his arms and one that had somehow ended up flung over his shoulder. Tim nearly laughed when he spotted a pair of small black boxers caught on the top edge of the curtains across the room.

Damian whirled and glared at Tim until he spotted the socks in Tim's hand. Once he spotted those he went so blazingly red that Tim had to fight against a grin that would probably get him knifed. Alfred sighed, allowing his shoulders to slump ever so slight as Damian stalked over and snatched the socks out of Tim's hand.

"Mission with Dick?" Tim asked with a deliberately tired sigh.

"Yes," Damian growled at him.

He looked as though he expected the teasing to begin any second. Tim was tempted but frankly he didn't want to spend another day yelling at Damian or having Damian yelling at him. Instead he let his shoulders slump a little bit and winced probably a hair too dramatically.

"Mmm, well, be glad that it wasn't lace topped thigh highs with hearts up and down the legs," Tim said. He shuddered at that particular memory. "Coupled a pink mini-skirt and a white blouse."

"I would not wear pink and hearts, not even for a mission," Damian snapped. "These were bad enough."

"Granted," Tim said. "If you find a Hawaiian shirt with pineapples on it, Dick's looking for it."

"I shall be on the watch for it," Damian said almost amicably when Tim didn't tease him.

Tim turned and went back to Jason's room, his shoulders itching in expectation of something thrown at him. Nothing happened, thank goodness. They really needed to start staggering their laundry days. Certainly, their costumes got washed daily but their more regular clothes needed to be kept a bit more separate so these things didn't happen anymore.

"So whose were they?" Jason asked once Tim came back and started putting the rest of the socks away.

"Damian's," Tim said. "Some mission with Dick."

"Hmm, makes sense. Dick has no fashion sense at all."

"If you see a pineapple Hawaiian shirt, that's Dick's," Tim commented.

"Oh, that thing?" Jason said, sounding surprised. "I thought it was Alfred's. Put it on his bed already."

Tim stared at Jason in silence long enough for him to stop work and look back at him. Jason raised an eyebrow curiously and then started snickering when Tim mouthed the word 'Alfred?' He snickered and shrugged.

"You know, he does have a life outside of the manor," Jason said with his best smirk. "You should ask to see pictures of his last vacation. Looked pretty wild."

Tim shook his head at the idea of Alfred getting wild and crazy in a Hawaiian shirt. "No, thank you. Some things really should be left unknown."

+++++

Damian regarded the small red gift-wrapped box for a long moment, pondering how to hand it. He could ask Jason to deliver the present for him but he was loath to do so. It was a personal thing, giving a present to his other self, and he would much prefer to hand deliver it rather than rely on another to do so.

Besides, Jason was still somewhat weak from his ordeal. There was no doubt in his mind that Timothy would flatly refuse to allow Jason to leave their 'verse, even for so minor an errand. Additionally, Damian absolutely would not ask Timothy to deliver it, no matter how much it would simplify things. Being beholden to Timothy Drake was flatly not acceptable in any way.

It took only a moment to sneak into Jason's room. He had the belt around his waist and the blocker bracelet on his wrist within moments. He wrote a short note, explaining that he was going to deliver a Christmas present to his other self in Robins band so that if anything went wrong he could be found easily enough. Once that was done and prominently placed on Jason's pillow Damian took the present carefully in hand. Borrowing Jason's belt was perhaps not the right thing to do but asking Jason to do it or dealing with Timothy's completely worthlessness was equally unthinkable.

"Jason? I thought you were headed down to the Cave," Timothy's voice called from the door. From the sound of it, he was in his Firebird costume, though he couldn't be wearing his helmet, as his voice was not distorted at all. "What's this surprise you've got for me?"

Damian froze for one moment that was entirely too long. Just as he moved to escape Timothy opened the door and spotted Damian. The open, happy and kind expression on his face immediately shifted to something angry and Timothy reacted so quickly to Damian's presence there that there was no time to get away. Just as Damian pushed the button to transfer worlds Timothy's hand wrapped around the too loose belt spanning his waist.

"Don't!" Timothy snapped as he pressed something on his belt.

They both gasped as electricity sparked in Timothy's suit and Jason's belt. It was strong enough that Damian was surprised to shift worlds. This time the transition between worlds was so jarring that Damian literally couldn't see straight once they arrived. Timothy collapsed, taking Damian with him. They tumbled apart, both breathing hard as they tried to get their bearings.

"What were you thinking?" Timothy hissed at Damian.

"It was none of your business," Damian said. He checked that he still had the present in his hand. It was slightly rumpled but intact. Timothy saw the package and raised an eyebrow at Damian.

"You were not playing Santa Claus," Timothy said so flatly that Damian's cheeks went red.

"No, I was not," Damian agreed even though it was a blatant lie. "You should not have grabbed me. Your interference might have damaged the belt."

"Damaged something," Timothy muttered. "Hopefully in your brain."

They stood, glaring at each other. Fortunately, they seemed to be in a relatively normal location rather than one of the wilder worlds that Jason had seen during his adventures. It looked like an alley in any major city, complete with rubbish bin blocking them from the view of people passing on the street. Damian checked the database on the belt to see which world they were in. It should be relatively simple to return home. Given how many worlds Jason had visited there was little likelihood that they were somewhere new. Timothy did the same on his suit. They froze at the same time.

All of the records were gone, wiped away by the electrical shock they had received.

"Tell me that you have some idea of where we are, Timothy," Damian hissed.

"I’m checking," Timothy hissed back. "Something's wrong with my suit."

His increasingly frantic manipulations of the controls built into the arm of his suit told Damian what he needed to know. They were lost, together, in the Multiverse with little or no way of getting home. Timothy's suit had the same equipment that Damian now wore. Jason had no belt at all as Damian had stolen it.

"Damn it," Timothy whispered.

"What?" Damian asked. The little package crumpled a bit more in his hand.

"We're way out from any world Jason ever went to," Timothy explained. "My database is empty but I memorized the coordinates of the worlds he'd been to. Yours?"

"Gone," Damian answered. "Everything is gone other than hard-wired functions."

"Fuck."

"Indeed."

Timothy growled and tapped the controls again, a somewhat wild expression on his face by now. Damian stared up at him, wondering why he kept trying when there was no data to be had. He reached out to touch Timothy and they abruptly transferred worlds. Again the transition was far too harsh. Grayness consumed Damian's consciousness for a long moment. When he came to he heard Timothy cursing exceedingly quietly in his ear. All around them there were the sounds of nature, birds, insects and something that sounded vaguely reptilian.

"Stay still," Timothy hissed at him. "We landed in some sort of jungle. With dinosaurs."

"What?" Damian gasped.

He levered his head up and stared out at what looked to him to be Tyrannosaurus. With wings. And glowing eyes. Damian very carefully retreated further behind the large flat leaf that was shielding them. Timothy shivered and eased further away from him, as if their touching would cause catastrophe. Considering that it had been a touch that sent them careening through the Multiverse, he might be quite justified in that response.

"We must leave," Damian whispered to Timothy. The creature that absolutely could not be a dragon perked its ears up and his head swiveled slowly and deliberately towards their hiding place.

"Shh!"

They both froze as the dragon's eyes narrowed and it sniffed the air. Damian's heart sped up to the point that he was certain that the dragon could hear his blood pumping through his veins. The creature bunched up in that sinuous way that cats used when they spotted a bit of prey and wanted to pounce on it.

"Now!" Damian squawked at Tim.

He flailed a hand out that was immediately met by Timothy's hand. The world shifted but not before Damian got a very clear look down the gullet of the dragon, straight to what looked like a firebox full of flame boiling out. Never in his life was he more regretful for his instinctive need to do things himself as at that moment. If he'd simply _asked_ this errand would already be completed.

They landed hard, bounced into each other, shifted worlds again, fell a dozen feet or so while still dazed from the transfer and smacked into each other once again. Damian lost all grip on consciousness at that point. When he came to it was to the smell of garbage and the sound of distant mechanized combat. Timothy moaned next to him and Damian scrambled away from him on all fours until he ran into what felt like a brick wall.

"Ow," Timothy moaned.

Damian forced his eyes open, spotting his mangled little present a foot away first and then Timothy in a similarly hunched position against the opposite wall of the alley. He looked as though he was battling nausea or perhaps a head injury. Given that they both must have been unconscious when they landed this time Damian could fully believe that he had a head injury. There were portions of his anatomy that were quite firmly informing him of various indignities at that moment.

"Head?" Damian asked.

"Yeah," Timothy groaned. "And ribs. Damn it, next time ask to borrow the gear, Damian!"

"I already understood that to be the lesson of this little adventure," Damian snapped. "Trust me."

"I think that's the root problem here," Timothy replied with a tired sigh. He forced himself vertical, clutching his ribs as if they were badly broken. No blood appeared on his lips so Damian hoped that it was a mere fracture and not something more serious like a punctured lung.

"Agreed."

They stared at each other for a long moment and then a huge explosion went off far too close to them. Damian bit down on the urge to curse as he scooped up his present, forced himself to his feet despite his knee's objections and then nodded to Timothy.

"We must get out of here," Damian said. "Use your emergency return. We should return to the Cave."

"I can't," Timothy said. "It's fried. That plus several other functions are completely fried. The system's in an infinite loop, charged and ready to go but I can't shut it off and it won't disengage. I can't even take the suit off right now or the security protocols will engage and I'll be electrocuted. You need to go home, Damian. Get back to the Cave and give Jason his stuff back. I can't transfer worlds, not until my suit is fixed so I'll stay here. The shield works just fine… though it probably would have trouble with that explosion."

A huge explosion went off far too close to their hiding place. The ground trembled under them as if it was an earthquake. Damian exchanged a look with Timothy that held emotions that he was unwilling to examine or identify. Timothy being protective of him was not something that he ever wished to acknowledge. They turned and ran in the opposite direction. His knee was painful enough that Damian thought he might have briefly dislocated the kneecap on arrival. It held him but made running an awkward, lurching affair. Timothy's run was equally painful looking and he clutched his ribs at every breath.

Around them, the evening light was shifting into true night, which made it far easier for Timothy to go unseen. His costume was designed for hiding, after all. Damian was somewhat less discreet, as he was wearing a holiday vest that Alfred had pressed upon him. Burgundy and forest green knitwear was not something Damian would have worn for anyone else but Alfred had made it sound like a tradition and Father had looked quite pleased to see Damian in the garment.

"There," Timothy gasped after they had run entirely too far. He pointed towards a forested area close to a strip mall that looked as if it were still open.

They hid in the shrubbery, being exceedingly careful not to touch each other. Damian rubbed his knee gingerly. It wasn't too bad. He would be fine in a few days. Timothy on the other hand looked as though he needed a great deal of care for those ribs and his head.

"Go home," Timothy ordered. "Get Jason. Have him come back here. Your belt should be recording the jumps we've made. My suit is despite everything being fried. He'll be able to find me fairly easily and I know he has ways to shut my suit down. I can hide easily enough."

"You will not be able to hide once daylight comes," Damian snapped at him. "The suit is entirely too distinctive for you to blend in if anyone spots you. Stay here. I will obtain discreet clothing and then return to the Cave to inform Jason."

Timothy opened his mouth as if to protest but after a second he shut it and nodded approval. Damian hurried into the mall, grateful that there was a men's clothing store. It was easy enough to locate the correct sizes for a black, long-sleeved turtleneck, a pair of black slacks, and a pair of black leather gloves to cover the gauntlets. He chose a dark blue trench coat for Timothy as well as it was getting rather cold outside and there was no guarantee that Jason would be able to get back to Tim immediately. If the belt were as damaged as Damian suspected then it might be longer than Tim hoped.

When it came time for checkout, Damian deliberately chose the line with the screaming children, harassed mother and argumentative father. By the time the cashier was done dealing with that family, she barely even glanced at Damian's money. Her gratitude for his being polite, respectful and quiet was almost palpable. Damian slipped out of the store and away into the bushes before anyone caught that the money he gave her was the functional equivalent of counterfeit in this universe.

"Here," Damian said. "I believe you'll be able to get the slacks on over the boots."

During his shopping trip, Timothy had used supplies from his belt to wrap his ribs, applying the bandages over the top of his suit. They made quick work of removing all the tags from the clothing and then Timothy dressed in his disguise. The cape was easy enough to remove and then fold up. It fit nicely into the shopping bag and quite resembled a scarf once bundled correctly. Timothy pulled on the gloves and sighed. There were still explosions going off in the distance.

"Go home," Timothy said, this time making it a plea rather than an order.

"You are not allowed to die," Damian grumbled at him. "Jason would not be able to bear that."

"Trust me, I have no intentions of dying," Timothy replied dryly. "I have every intention of finding somewhere safe to hide and staying out of whatever that battle is."

"Mmm," Damian murmured. He didn't believe for a minute that Timothy would stay away from the action. People had to be in danger and he would feel compelled to assist them, even with a malfunctioning suit. "Be careful. The money here is substantially different from ours so I doubt you will be able to pay bail if you're arrested."

"Not carrying any, anyway. Just go," Timothy said with a roll of his eyes. "Tell Jason to hurry."

Damian nodded. He pressed the emergency return button and immediately took off the belt and bracelet. Explaining this to Jason was going to be one of the most uncomfortable things he had ever had to do but it was his own fault. He should have simply asked for permission to borrow the belt, rather than taking it. The sure knowledge that everyone in the house was going to say that to him did nothing to ease his nerves. Hesitating, however, was inappropriate for a warrior of his lineage and training.

"Jason!" Damian yelled as he strode out into the Cave. "You are needed!"

+++++

Tim breathed a pained sigh of relief when Damian finally shifted home. It might take a while but Jason would come find him. He couldn't imagine that Jason would delay too much, though fixing his belt might take a certain amount of time. At least Damian hadn't stolen the gauntlet. If that had gotten wiped Tim would be in much more danger. As it was, he thought that he should be home in the next twelve to twenty-four hours at the outside. He could only hope that Damian wouldn't pull this trick again.

He stood, caught his breath after his ribs screamed at him and carefully slipped out of the bushes and into the crowd around the mall. The battle appeared to have receded towards the other side of the city. Around him, other people looked across the buildings at the glow of the explosions with nervous, worried expressions on their faces as they hurried to their waiting cars. Tim knew that he should walk in the opposite direction, perhaps find a Denny's or a Starbucks to haunt while he waited. With his suit and the fake credit card that Jason had given him he should be able to buy some food and something to drink. Despite the problems his suit now had, the credit card had appeared to be intact when Tim checked during Damian's shopping trip.

Instead taking the sensible path, Tim headed in the direction of the battle. It was foolish and stupid given his broken ribs but the combined certainty that people were in danger and his curiosity about what sort of world he'd landed in made staying safe almost impossible. Besides, given the obviously mechanized nature of the battle it was highly unlikely that anywhere in the city was truly safe. The bombs would drop wherever they wanted and the illusion of safety was a very different thing from the reality of it. He just hoped it wasn't a Godzilla 'verse. Giant monsters weren't something he wanted to deal with after the dinosaur-dragon-thing.

He methodically worked his way to a point where he had a decent view with relative cover. There was a long stretch of four-lane street that let Tim see the devastation in the center of the city. It was empty, as if traffic had been blocked off in both directions. Tim wondered for a moment if he was inside of a true war zone, not that it made much of a difference. From the destruction it could be a giant monster 'verse, though there seemed to be entirely too much metal debris and no organic debris lying around. Tim's lips quirked at the thought of a giant tail draped over a building but the smile faded almost immediately. Somewhere in the Multiverse it was a real danger. The thought was as chilling as the thought of being trapped here for any length of time.

As he pondered whether to go on or go find somewhere safe to wait for Jason, two sports cars sped along the empty street towards him. Tim pursed his lips to whistle quietly at them as a pair of racing Lamborghini Countachs wasn't something he saw every day, even being Bruce Wayne's adopted son. The whistle died before he got a note out. They were headed straight for his 'hiding' place, an overhang with an abandoned signboard in front of a storefront.

"Where is it?" the yellow Countach asked as it skidded to a stop and then transformed into a giant robot. He held a giant gun at the ready, scanning the area for threats even as he changed shapes.

"Somewhere around here, Sunstreaker," the red Countach said as it transformed too. "Not sure where. I don't see anything…"

They looked down at Tim, glanced around as if searching for something and then slowly turned and cocked their heads at him in a nearly identical motion of curiosity. Tim backed off a step, desperately trying to remember the Transformers cartoons he'd watched as a small child. If the yellow one was Sunstreaker than he thought that the red one had to be Sideswipe. The bad news was that if they were Transformers then there had to be Decepticons around as well, which was nothing that he wanted to deal with.

"How in the world did you manage to get a human shape?" Sideswipe asked. He knelt down to study Tim more closely. "Did you come from the Hub that way?"

"Looks to me like he hit his head though I don't see a dent," Sunstreaker said, peering at Tim over Sideswipe's shoulder.

"The Hub?" Tim asked as he took another tentative step back and put his hand on his belt's shield button. "Ah, no sir, I didn't hit my head."

It wasn't exactly a lie. Truthfully it was Damian's knee that had hit his head during their last tumble through the Multiverse. The landing had broken his ribs. The two Transformers looked at him, their metallic faces somehow managing to convey confusion. The sounds of battle began to approach again, accompanied by huge explosions that made Tim even more nervous than before.

"What are you?" Sideswipe asked. "You're not one of us, that's for sure."

"A human," Tim answered. "What were you looking for?"

"A source of power that's lighting up this entire area," Sunstreaker replied. He turned and looked back in the direction of the battle. "They're going to be here soon. The human can't be the source. Humans don't radiate power like that, not at those levels."

Tim bit his lip, rubbed the shield button and then nodded slowly. "You're probably detecting the suit I'm wearing. Are there Decepticons on the way?"

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe both stared at him, their body language showing alarm and surprise that he knew the name of their enemies. As they nodded slowly Tim heard a scuttling sound from the shadows. He pressed the shield button instantly, knocking Sideswipe backwards and onto his rear end. Tim shouted as a spider-like Decepticon leaped out of the darkness and landed on top of his shield.

He fired several blasts at the Decepticon, missing twice and then hitting on the third one. The hit didn't appear to damage it, but it did stun it enough that it slid off of the shield and then lay there long enough for Sunstreaker to blow it up. Tim backed away from the Decepticon's remains, cursing under his breath. His shield had held though Tim wasn't sure how long that it would. The power pack was holding for now and likely would continue to do so for the next couple of decades, but he was somewhat worried that they'd overload it and he'd be electrocuted for good.

"Nice shield," Sideswipe commented. "Not such a good gun but nice shield."

"My suit's been damaged," Tim explained. He looked past them when another explosion went off even closer this time. "I can't turn it off and I can't get out of it. There's someone coming who'll be able to reboot my suit but it could take as much as a full day. Do you know of anywhere I can go that would be safer than this? I don't want anyone to get hurt because of my presence here."

"Optimus Prime might be able to help," Sunstreaker said. "We might be able to shut you down, too."

"Can you fly or anything?" Sideswipe asked.

"No, all my transportation functions are fused right now," Tim said. "I could drive though. If you don't mind, of course."

Sideswipe laughed and transformed back into his other shape. The driver's side door popped open. Sunstreaker waved one giant metal hand at Tim so he took the invitation. He had to shut off the shield to get into Sideswipe but once inside the seat and steering wheel automatically adjusted to him.

"I'll lead," Sunstreaker said as he transformed back. "Keep up, Sideswipe! Don't let that passenger of yours slow you down."

"Hey, I'm seriously, I can drive," Tim protested. "Though I do prefer a Ducati."

"Hang on," Sideswipe laughed.

He gunned his engine and Tim grabbed the steering wheel. Sideswipe kept control, making Tim feel like he was in a remote controlled vehicle. They sped away from the remains of the dead Decepticon and roared off towards the battle. Maybe this would help or maybe not, but at least he had some temporary allies in this 'verse. One way or the other, he had to make sure that the Decepticons didn't get his suit. Not only would removing it kill him, there was no way that he'd ever allow Decepticons to have access to the Multiverse. Even if they did manage to mask their dimensional signal enough so that they didn't cause a Multiversal collapse, he wasn't going to let Decepticons loose on the other worlds.

+++++

"Damn, damn, damn," Jason muttered as he worked to repair the damage to his belt.

He'd yelled at Damian a good bit louder and longer than he should have when Damian told him about Tim's situation. The kid's shoulders were so hunched when he was done yelling that he looked a good foot shorter. Jason felt guilty about it but fixing his belt was way more important at the moment. His heart was pounding against his chest from the worry over Tim.

The damage to his belt wasn't insurmountable but fixing it was slowing him down way more than he wanted. There was no telling what sort of 'verse Tim was in, but from what Damian had said it was in a state of war so he knew that Tim was in danger. Hell, his suit was a danger to him in and of itself if Tim couldn't get it off. The longer he was stuck in it the more likely it was that something would go wrong and he'd get electrocuted the way things stood.

"I can't believe you just took the belt," Dick complained from the other side of the cave. He was pacing a track in the floor when he really should have gone out on patrol with everyone else.

"It was supposed to have been a short errand," Damian said so miserably that Jason looked up from his repair work.

The kid was hunched in on himself like he was the one with broken ribs, not Tim. Jason sighed, turning around so that he could look directly at Damian and Dick. After all the work he'd all done to end the war between Tim and Damian, the last thing Jason wanted was for this situation to put Damian on the defensive again.

"If I'd known you were interested in going there," Jason said as kindly as he could without sounding like he'd had a personality transplant, "I'd have given you your Christmas present early."

"Christmas present?" Dick asked. He stopped mid-step with his head cocked at Jason.

"Yeah," Jason said with a shrug that made Damian's shoulders come up out of their hunch a little bit. "I made belts and proper protection bracelets for everyone. Thought you'd all enjoy heading off to the deserted island for vacations. The belts are limited, only able to go specific, safe 'verses, but it seemed like a good idea. You know, guaranteed not to get called back from your time off by the emergency of the minute?"

Dick stared at him and then laughed, shaking his head in surprise. Damian's lips curled in a rueful near-smirk that looked somewhat reassured. This time when Jason turned back to his work, Dick didn't continue scolding Damian as he paced. After a moment Damian came over and stood by Jason's side so that he could watch Jason work.

The damage was pretty extensive. Most of the circuitry was fried. The targeting mechanism was completely screwed and had to be replaced. Unfortunately, the system for actually switching worlds was screwed up and nonfunctional in ways that didn't make sense to Jason. He had no idea how they'd managed to do that sort of damage. Worse than that, the trigger for changing worlds was fully functional and had been charged until Jason pulled the power pack. That was probably why Tim and Damian had switched worlds every time they touched. With Tim's suit running at full charge and waiting for the trigger to move, and the belt ready to trigger a switch but unable to do it, every time the two systems interacted it would have formed a fully functioning machine that lacked the ability to choose which world to go to.

"Can it be repaired?" Damian asked quietly enough that Dick wouldn't overhear his words.

"Eventually," Jason sighed. "But not quickly. Sure as hell not as fast as we need."

"I… apologize," Damian said in a thready little whisper that sounded like it hurt.

Jason looked at him and then abruptly tugged Damian into a hug. Damian automatically struggled for a moment before he calmed enough to lean into the hug. It was kind of like hugging a porcupine what with how sharp Damian's shoulders and elbows were but Jason held on until Damian relaxed by tiny degrees. Hugging Damian reminded Jason so strongly of his early hugs with Tim that he couldn't help but smile over the top of Damian's head. Kid seriously needed more hugs.

"Tim's half to blame for it," Jason murmured to Damian. "If he hadn't grabbed the belt you'd both be fine. Course if you'd just asked then you'd both be fine too. We'll fix it and you can deliver your present later."

"Thank you," Damian said. He pushed against Jason's chest. His face was blazingly red when Jason let him go. "How long will it take?"

"Not too long. Dick!" Jason snapped sharply enough to make Dick start. "I'm borrowing your Christmas present for a while. I'll rewrap it for you before Christmas."

Dick burst out laughing and nodded. "Sure thing, Jason. So you'll be able to go right away?"

"Nope, not quite," Jason said. "Yours doesn't have all the functions I need. I'll have to upgrade it and add some programming to it before I go. Still won't be the same as my belt but it'll get me there and back again. Need to pick up some stuff before I go so that I can shut Tim's suit down. Get your butt out on patrol. I'm taking Damian along with me."

"You are?" Dick asked at the same time that Damian did. They both said the words in shocked tones.

"Sure," Jason said with a shrug that wasn't as casual as it seemed. "Gonna need his help to shut Tim's suit down. It's not a one-man job if his suit is as screwed up as Damian said. And trust me, you can't shut certain functions down from the inside if you want to survive. I'll definitely be fixing that when I repair his suit. Didn't think this sort of damage could happen so I didn't plan for it."

Dick took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He leveled a warning look at Damian that was met by a glare and the return of the hunched shoulders. Jason glared at Dick too. After a second Dick nodded though he obviously wasn't happy at all about the whole situation.

"Go," Dick said. "Don't hesitate to come back if you need help."

"Dickie-bird, if I need help I'll be going to Jay and Temperance or maybe the Chief and Timothy, not you," Jason drawled. He added enough of a smirk to make Dick's cheeks flush. "You're good in a fight but this tech is way above you."

"Just go save Tim," Dick huffed at them. "And be careful!"

"Sure thing," Jason said. He put a hand on Damian's shoulder and pushed him gently towards the elevator. "You too."

Damian waited until they were upstairs and in Jason's room unwrapping presents before he said anything. From the expression on his face it was another of those times where he really didn't want to say anything but felt compelled to by his weird sense of honor.

"I will not fail," Damian said entirely too grimly.

"Eh, don't worry about it," Jason said. "It is a two person job but it's not really that damned complicated. You'll get to push buttons and I'll pop the power pack on Tim's suit."

"Should you not be the one 'pushing buttons'?" Damian asked with one of his raised eyebrows of doom. "This is your technology."

"Not unless you want to put your hands all over Tim's ass," Jason chuckled. "The power pack release is back there, right at the curve of the small of his back. Call me a perv but it seemed like the perfect place when I made the suit."

Damian went flamingly red as his breath caught in his chest. He made the little tutting noise that Jason was pretty sure he used anytime he couldn't come up with an adequate response to whatever new outrageous thing his family had done. Jason shrugged and handed Damian his new blocker bracelet. It was like a miniature version of Jason's gauntlet.

"Give me a minute to upgrade your and Dick's belts and we'll get our asses back there to save Tim," Jason said. "Hopefully he'll have gone to ground somewhere safe, preferably with books or something."

"…If you truly believe that then you are a great deal more idealistic than I thought," Damian said dryly.

"Point," Jason sighed. "Actually, I expect to find him hip deep in some sort of battle. Tim's predictable that way."

"True."

Damian sighed as he said the word but it wasn't the normal scornful sigh. It almost sounded respectful, as if he was coming to appreciate that quality in Tim. Jason didn't comment on it because it could just as easily be wishful thinking on his part. At least there were alternate belts and they could go save Tim from the Multiverse and his own better impulses.

+++++

"Dang," Sideswipe grumbled as Sunstreaker slowed in front of them and then let Sideswipe take the front position.

"What's up?" Tim asked.

"Looks like the army's got a blockade around the center of the city," Sideswipe replied. "Think you're up to coming up with a cover story? We're trying not to be seen if we can help it. Prime doesn't want us to be too obvious."

"Do my best," Tim said dubiously. "They're going to notice that Sunstreaker doesn't have a driver."

"Worst comes to worst we'll transform and run through but I'd like to avoid it if we can," Sideswipe said.

They both shut up as Sideswipe slowed to a stop in front of the blockade. A pissed off looking corporal stomped over, glared at Tim as if he was a rich brat who didn't have the brains to know better than to drive straight for an active battle zone. Tim pondered playing that card and discarded before he tried to take a deep breath, winced as his broken ribs stabbed him and then squared his shoulders and rolled his window down.

"Don't even start," Tim snapped at the corporal before he could get a word out of his mouth. "I need your commanding officer right this instant and no back talk. This is an urgent situation and you're in increasing danger the longer I sit here."

"Uh, uh, Yessir!" the corporal said, his mouth gaping open until he scurried off to get his commander.

"What are you doing?" Sideswipe asked in a low enough murmur that no one outside could have heard him.

"Improvising," Tim replied.

He controlled the urge to wince when he saw who was coming over. Tim reminded himself that he was Firebird, that he scared criminals and heroes alike, that he fought assassins for fun. His internal pep talk helped him stay strong as the corporal stayed behind while his commanding officer, a colonel, strode over. Tim knew him far too well, or at least he knew another version of him. Bluffing his way through this wasn't going to be as easy as he'd hoped, not that he'd thought it would be easy.

"So what's this 'urgent situation' that you need to talk to me about?" Colonel Dick Grayson asked. He didn't look at all impressed with Tim when he leaned down to look in the window at Tim.

Tim put on a smirk, took a deep breath and immediately regretted it as he had to wrap his arm around his chest because of the pain from his broken ribs. "Nice to meet you, Col Grayson. I'm Tim Drake. I'm the biggest threat to your troops that you'll ever encounter and I need to get through this blockade right away if you don't want the Decepticons to wipe you all out."

"How the hell…?" Dick stared at him, narrowing his eyes at the way Tim was hugging his chest, and then looked through the blockade towards the ongoing battle. "What are you up to? Who are you?"

"You don't have clearance to know that," Tim snapped at him. "It's probably too much for me to say that I'm carrying a power source that the Decepticons will kill every single one of you for. Time is short, Col Grayson. Open a path and let us through before your people die."

"Damn it, I can't do that!" Dick snapped. "This…"

Tim growled and dialed his shield to its widest setting, thumbing it on. The shield arched over both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, enclosing Dick along with them. It excluded the soldiers who shouted and attempted to break through. Dick stood up straight and stared at the shield for a long moment before bending over again to study Tim.

"I should ask for ID," Dick commented almost gently. "Get confirmation. Orders."

"Dick," Tim said in a similar almost gentle tone of voice that was anything but gentle, "you don't have clearance to even see my ID. Open the fucking blockade before all of your soldiers die!"

Dick's eyes went wide and he stepped back. It took two seconds before he nodded approval. Tim dropped his shield and Dick strode off to snap orders that made his men stare at him like he was completely insane. Once a path was cleared through the blockade Tim gunned Sideswipe's engine and felt absurdly honored that Sideswipe actually let him drive through the gap.

They sped off and very quickly Sideswipe took over again. Tim could see Dick's men closing the gap in the barricade in the rear view mirror but that hardly mattered. The road was much more broken in this area and he could see explosions going off ahead of them. Hopefully Prime would be able to do something about his suit. There was absolutely no way that Tim was going to let himself be used by the Decepticons or the government for that matter.

"That was brilliant," Sideswipe commented as the darted around a series of craters in the road.

"I have practice with this sort of thing," Tim said as he shrugged casually. "Though usually I'm not driving something like you."

"Ducati?" Sideswipe laughed.

"Oh yeah," Tim said with a grin that surprisingly enough didn't feel forced. "You're sweet, don't get me wrong, but my Ducati rules."

"Says you!" Sideswipe snorted.

Tim laughed, feeling much better that he'd managed to impress Sideswipe. The city ahead was a mess, full of destroyed buildings and broken roads. By the time they got to the edge of the battle zone it was obvious that Tim wasn't going to be riding for very much longer. There were far too many craters in the road for driving.

"Time to shift," Sideswipe said as they literally came to the end of the road. A bomb had blown a thirty-foot crater right across their path.

Tim expected the door to open so he could get out but instead Sideswipe shifted forms, his changing body cradling Tim as he transformed, so that Tim ended up nestled in the nook of Sideswipe's arm. Behind them, Sunstreaker changed as well. His gun was at the ready as soon as he was in his humanoid form.

Before they could go on, a truly humongous Transformer tumbled from behind a building. He had another spider-like Decepticon latched to his chest and was trying to get it off. Sunstreaker cursed and ran straight at them, jumping onto the huge Transformer to help get rid of the Decepticon.

"Prime!" Sideswipe yelled. He hesitated, his arm curling protectively around Tim though Tim could see his hesitation and worry.

"Put me down and go!" Tim snapped at Sideswipe.

"You'll be killed," Sideswipe protested.

"No I won't," Tim said, watching the battle with rising worry. "Damn it, I have my shield, Sideswipe! Don't let him hurt Prime!"

Sideswipe looked down at Tim, looked at Prime and his twin and then set Tim down before charging straight into the battle. Tim immediately raised his shield and checked his weapons. He was still radiating power, which would draw the Decepticons in, but at least the shield should hold. And even if his suit's energy weapons weren't particularly effective in killing the Decepticons he could defend himself relatively well for the short term.

"Damn it," Tim whispered as the battle between the Transformers and Decepticons moved closer. "Come on, Jason. Come find me already."

+++++

"Finally," Jason sighed as he finished reprogramming Dick's belt so that it could do what he needed it to.

"We are ready?" Damian asked.

Damian's belt had been reprogrammed first, not that Jason had done a hell of a lot to Damian's belt. He'd added a few 'verses and given his new gauntlet the required programming to shut Tim's suit down but that was it. Dick's belt had taken a lot more reprogramming and a few cobbled on additions to it before it could do what Jason wanted. Jason nodded to Damian as he strapped on his new belt. Jason wasn't sure that he'd give it to Dick now. Might be easier to make him a new one.

"Yup, we're ready," Jason said. "Take the mask off for now. They stick out like a sore thumb when you're traveling 'verses and that's the last thing we want given how many we're going to cycle through while we shut his suit down. Those clothes should work well enough though I'm really glad you took the fucking Christmas vest off."

"I only wore it because Alfred said it was a tradition," Damian said stiffly as he removed his mask and tucked it away into a pocket.

Jason snorted at that. He'd put on dark street clothes rather than his uniform, following Jason's lead. Instead of a uniform, Jason had chosen combat pants, a T-shirt and his leather jacket. After his trip through the Multiverse it practically was a uniform, unlike the fucking vest that Alfred had foisted off on Damian. It was a tradition, an embarrassing one. There were pictures of every single Robin wearing that vest or one like it, including Jason, though Jason's vest had been covered with reindeer and snowflakes, not a huge, gaudy Christmas tree. He pushed those thoughts away and focused on what needed to be done.

"Don't activate your belt to transfer universes," Jason told Damian. "I'll carry us both there. Works better that way and I'm halfway convinced that it was a conflict between the two systems that fried both you guys. Make sure your shield unit is set to auto activate. If there's a war going on we want to be prepared when we get there."

Damian nodded and offered Jason his hand. He had his grim 'going on a mission' expression on. To Jason, it looked like Damian was absolutely determined to make up for his mistake, no matter what that took, including being helpful to Timothy Drake. Jason squeezed his fingers gently and then triggered the transition to the world that Tim had gotten lost on.

"Looks like he's moved," Jason said as he looked around.

The strip mall was closed down and the buildings were dark, so Jason activated his trackers and checked his gauntlet. There were two Tim Drake's in this 'verse, a Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Steph, and a Damian, but Bruce appeared to be dead. Figuring out which Tim to go for was easy enough; all he had to do was home in on the one with the biggest power signature.

They transferred to Tim's location and Jason cursed under his breath, transferring them straight back before any of the security guards in the very obviously high tech secret lab noticed them along the back wall. It took less than a second to transfer in and then back out but that was still long enough for this 'verse's Tim to whirl from his computer console and start to point at them.

"What was _that?_ " Damian gasped once they're returned to the mall.

"That was me making a mistake," Jason grumbled. "Shoulda checked for extra-dimensional energies, not just highest energy signature."

"But what was he working on?" Damian asked more insistently than normal. He looked just a little spooked, not that Jason blamed him on that. It wasn't every day you saw a robot autopsy, not that Jason was sure that that was what they'd accidentally barged in on. They could have been building it just as easily as taking it apart.

"No clue," Jason said as he offered his hand again. "Looked like some kind of giant robot to me. Doesn't really matter. We've got our own issues to deal with."

They transferred again, this time landing right next to Tim in the middle of an all-out battle full of heavy weapons fire, explosions and the sort of shouting that came from knowing that you were about to lose in a very big way. Giant robots surrounded them, some fighting to protect Tim and others fighting to get through his shield. Jason's shield belt and Damian's both triggered immediately, tripling the protection around Tim. Tim whirled and aimed at them, only to raise his hand towards the sky when he realized who they were.

"Finally!" Tim snapped. "We need to get out of here right away. The Decepticons are winning and I don't think that the Autobots will be able to hold them off much longer. They're after the suit, Jay. Get us out of here!"

"Transformers?" Jason said, blatantly squeaking like a twelve-year-old encountering his crush in real life. "Oh cool!"

"What?" Damian asked, obviously confused. "What is this Transformer nonsense?"

Jason looked at the battle again, this time actually seeing the players instead of just the action. Prime was in a bad way. His chest was scarred from something, probably one of the Decepticons, trying to tear him apart. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were defending him, as were several other Autobots. There were a couple of humans hiding off to the side, so they must be allies of the Autobots who'd been sucked into the action.

"We can't just leave them this way!" Jason protested. "Little D, keep an eye on Tim and no touching, either of you! I'll be right back."

He grabbed several modules from his pockets and attached them to his pulse gun, turning it into a highly effective hand-held energy canon. A cartridge full of exploding flechettes gave the energy pulses greater kick that should be highly effective against the Decepticons. Jason transferred out of Tim's shield bubble and over beside Prime.

"Look out!" Jason shouted to Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Jazz before aiming at the closest Decepticon.

The first shot blew the Decepticon to smithereens so Jason dialed down the energy pulses enough that he shut them down instead of destroying them. Prime made a surprised noise but didn't object to Jason's help. With Jason's cannon and the Autobot's efforts they managed to stop of the majority of the Decepticons. Those that they didn't shut down ran away, which was fine as far as Jason was concerned.

"Thank you," Prime said in a grave, grateful tone that made Jason's inner twelve-year-old squeal with delight.

"No problem," Jason said. "I was here to help Tim shut his suit down so it's not like this was off target. Once we leave things should go more or less back to normal. Glad I could help you out."

"It would be good if you could shut it down," Prime said with a nod at the Decepticons surrounding them. "He's drawing in everyone in the area right now."

Jason nodded agreement and headed back over to Tim and Damian. They had identical flat expressions that were so annoyed that they virtually vibrated with it. He shrugged and transferred inside of Tim's shield, casually taking the attachments off of his pulse gun as he did it. Tim sighed and shook his head at Jason while Damian made the little "tt" noise while sharing a look with Tim that was nearly amicable in their mutual annoyance.

"Can we shut this down already?" Tim demanded. "I want this thing redesigned so that it can be shut down from the inside."

"Already working on the plans for that in my head," Jason reassured him. "Now strip off the clothes. I need to get at your ass."

Jason stumbled a little when Tim turned The Glare of Doom on him. It was fierce enough that Jason felt the need to check for bullet holes and knives in his chest. Damian had the exact same glare at one notch lower intensity but probably only because he was smaller. Tim let out a breath through clenched teeth. His shoulders slowly lowered but he didn't remove the clothes. Instead he crossed his arms over his chest with a stubborn infuriated expression on his face.

"Seriously," Jason said. "You need to take off the clothes before I can shut your suit down."

"Why?" Tim asked like he wanted to shoot Jason instead of listen to him.

"That's where the release for the power pack for your suit is," Jason explained. The Autobots around them started snickering. When Jason looked over his shoulder even Prime looked amused. "Hey, it seemed like a good idea when I designed the thing."

"He's not joking," Tim said far too flatly to Damian.

"I am afraid not," Damian said equally flatly. "I reviewed the design drawings for your suit while he repaired his belt. That is where the power pack resides."

This time Jason did wince at Tim's glare. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were snickering to each other as Tim pulled the gloves off. By the time he had stripped down to his suit the Autobots were a good bit less amused. They seemed to have problems with the design on Tim's suit.

"Looks like blood," Jazz commented while resting a hand on his gun.

"It's supposed to," Tim sighed. "I'm playing the role of a just barely redeemed villain at the moment, to help another person's integration into our society. It's a long story."

"Okay," Jason said as he scanned Tim's suit with his gauntlet. "This thing is fried. We're going to disappear as soon as Little D and I start working on it. Don't worry about it, guys. We'll be fine, got our shields and we've got plenty of weapons. Once I get this thing off of Tim we'll be on our way home and you'll never see us again."

Tim looked over his shoulder at Jason, eyes still snapping with anger. From the blaze of red across his cheeks Sunstreaker and Sideswipe's snickers weren't helping. Jason ignored them all, especially once Prime glared at the twins and got them to shut up at least for a little while. Damian's lips went thin when Jason nodded at him. He held his new gauntlet at the ready.

"Gotta link into your suit," Jason murmured to Tim. "Little D's going to work the controls while I work on getting this thing shut down properly."

"You are changing where that power pack goes," Tim hissed back at him.

"Yup, got that already," Jason replied. "Just thought it worked when I designed it."

He carefully linked Damian's gauntlet into Tim's suit and then did likewise with his gauntlet. This wasn't as safe as Jason was pretending it was. They were going to be sliding world to world as he worked and there was no knowing where they'd end up. Fortunately, his and Damian's shields should keep them safe, even if they ended up on a lava field. It was just a matter of getting the damned suit to shut down in a timely manner.

"Brace yourself," Jason said. "Okay, hit it Little D."

Damian tutted nervously and then nodded once. His face was far too serious when he pushed the start program button. The world lurched and they spun off to the next world, the first world of their hopefully temporary uncontrolled slide through the Multiverse.

+++++

"That was a better jump than the last… few," Tim said and then paused as he took in the world they'd landed in.

They were in the middle of a wide lava field. Their shield bubbles were nestled between two ribbons of lava that were slowly encroaching on the little island of black that their feet rested on. The lava was so hot as to flow like water, radiating heat and cherry red light that made Tim's eyes hurt to look at it. He stiffened involuntarily, mentally cataloging how many lethal gasses had to be in the air around them, though for the moment their triple shields appeared to be keeping the gasses out. There was nothing living as far as he could see, perhaps not for miles. The lava gradually crept higher over their island, washing around the edges of their shields and making the outermost one snap and spark.

"Should be. It's Damian's belt shifting us, not yours," Jason grunted while getting entirely too handsy with Tim's rear end. "Damn release switch is fused. Stupid goddamn moron, stupid thing…"

"One hopes that you are speaking of yourself," Damian snapped at Jason, focusing so hard on the controls on his gauntlet that he didn't appear to have noticed their environment.

"We might want to switch worlds, gentlemen," Tim said in tense enough a tone that both Jason and Damian stopped and looked up.

"Ah… yeah," Jason said, nodding once. "Gonna have to. This thing is seriously stuck. Hit it, Little D. I'm breaking out the knife."

They switched worlds before Tim could object to a knife being applied to his ass, especially right at the base of his spine where Jason had been working. The new world was almost worse than the lava field. They landed in the middle of what appeared to be an epic orgy. Bodies writhed together off to the left, naked people dancing together in groups of three or four or sometimes more. Tim thought he saw Wonder Woman in the middle of one cluster but he didn't look too closely. There were pillows off on the right covered with people in various stages of coupling. Up on the dais, or what Tim assumed was a dais, Dick was getting a blow job from Roy while enthusiastically fingering Kory at the same time that he sucked on Bruce who was being slowly and methodically fucked by Clark. Tim's cheeks went flamingly red and he was intensely grateful that Damian hadn't looked up.

"Um…"

"Whoa," Jason breathed. "Little D, seriously, do not look up."

"I am not," Damian snarled at him. His ears were glowingly red so he was obviously aware of what sort of place they'd landed in. "Get that battery pack out!"

"Working on it, I promise," Jason said.

They shifted worlds again, this time sliding into the Cave where a somewhat younger version of Tim was clinging to Kon while Bruce glared ferociously at them. The instant they arrived, Tim, Kon and Bruce all whirled and went on the defense. Tim sighed and raised his hands over his shoulders while Jason cursed at the fused latch holding his power pack in place.

"Sorry, switching worlds uncontrollably," Tim called to his other self. "We'll be gone shortly. You can safely ignore us."

"He's… he's the one who saved Kon!" the other Tim gasped. "I told you that he was real!"

"You did?" Tim asked Jason.

"Hmm?" Jason looked up from his work and then grinned at Kon and the other Tim. "Oh yeah, they were lost on that desert island we vacation on. Glad to see you're up and around, kiddo. That was a pretty nasty wound you had."

"Uh, thanks?" Kon said, staring at the three of them with a stunned expression.

"I cannot hold us here much longer," Damian said. "The power is building too quickly."

"Fuck," Jason growled. "Damn suit is so fucked up!"

They switched worlds again but Tim had just enough time to see Bruce's expression switch from doubt and suspicion to concern that seemed to be focused on them, rather than on the other Tim and Kon. Hopefully whatever discussion had been going on would go better now, not that Tim expected that they'd ever come back to verify that everything was okay. He almost hoped that they could, given how fierce Bruce had been towards Kon and the other Tim when they arrived.

They arrived in mid-air this time, falling through the sky towards what looked like a giant blimp with wings and many propellers. Jason's cursing went up several notches, this time with Damian and Tim's cursing as counterpoints. Two ships that had wings that buzzed like a bumblebee's zoomed towards them, one with an older version of Tim at the helm and the other with Jason behind the stick. Tim waved them off, and was intensely grateful for the shields when a blast came from the blimp below. The older Tim nodded gravely and dove to attack the airship, his Jason close on his tail.

Another switch and this time they landed in a muddy field surrounded by peasants who screamed and scrambled away from them. Wayne Manor was on a hill in the distance, with a small army of knights in armor before it. One of the knights shouted and pointed at them. After a moment, Tim realized that the knight was another Jason. His Jason groaned and started wrenching at the power pack, trying to use brute force to free it instead of finessing it loose.

"Get us out of here, Little D!" Jason snapped. "This is the plague world I hit on my way home!"

"Are we actually heading back through the same worlds you've been to before?" Tim asked as Damian worked the controls frantically.

"Set it up that way," Jason said. "Didn't want us heading off to too many weird places if I could help it. You've got no idea how many truly bizarre worlds there are out there."

They bounced to an idyllic field marked by scorched places. Another Damian was standing in the middle of a nearby lake. He turned and stared at them, water rising in streamers around him as he moved to attack. Another shift and they landed in the middle of a bunch of very startled, very hungry looking dragons, and then they spun onwards to Timothy and the Chief's world. Jason grunted, got his fingers under the power pack and against Tim's back and then wrenched hard enough to make Tim stagger.

"What happened now?" Chief growled at them. He reached out and then blinked when he encountered the shields surrounding them.

"Suit got fried," Jason said. "We're shifting wildly so don't get close. Don't want you getting sucked into the shift field."

"It's still building power," Damian said, fingers dancing over the gauntlet's control panel as he tried to keep them from switching worlds. "I cannot stop us from shifting when it keeps building this way!"

"Damn it, come loose you fucking pain in the ass!" Jason yelled while trying to rip the power pack free.

Tim flung out a hand because Jason's last wrench against the power pack came close to pulling him off his feet. His hand contacted one of Timothy's control consoles. It hummed into life at the same time that Jason was knocked away from Tim by a blast of static electricity from the power pack. Damian started cursing in Arabic, his eyes so wide that Tim could only believe that he had no clue what was happening now. His link to Tim's suit shorted out, throwing Damian backwards against the far wall. Damian struggled to his feet, still cursing in Arabic while behind Tim Jason was cursing groggily, as if he'd hit his head on something.

"Don't touch that!" Timothy yelled.

Tim pulled his hand off the console but as he did it, there was a brilliant flash of light from overhead that swept down and enveloped him. Something tore through Tim and he heard screaming that shifted up the scale into higher and higher registers. A very distant part of his mind realized that it was his own voice, not someone else's. The last thing that Tim saw before blacking out was Damian getting taller as Damian's mouth dropped open in shock.

+++++

"What did you do?" Jason gasped as Timothy wailed, collapsed and shrank until his suit quite literally slid off of his too-tiny body.

"Don't get into the field!" the older Timothy shouted. "Let the device finish!"

They all waited tensely as the light bathing Timothy, that is Damian and Jason's Timothy as opposed to the older glasses-wearing Timothy, waned and then waxed and then ceased entirely. Fortunately it looked as though Timothy's suit was powered down, the power pack apparently feeding it's energy to the older Timothy's device.

"What did it do?" Jason asked far too tensely.

"Timothy?" Damian asked.

He was the closest of them all so he carefully pushed aside the smoking pile of fabric and hidden circuitry and found himself confronted with a small boy of about four and a half years who had Timothy's blue eyes and dark hair coupled with a bottom lip that wobbled alarmingly. Damian immediately pulled his hoodie off and wrapped it around the child's naked body, well aware that his fingers were shaking as hard as little Timothy's body was.

"Do I know you, sir?" Timothy asked in a too quiet, too respectful voice for such a young child. Damian could see that Timothy had no idea whatsoever who any of them were.

"The fuck?" Jason gasped as the Chief joined him in harsh, loud cursing.

Timothy gulped and leaned carefully into Damian's side. His careful touch was strange for one so young, especially given how hard he was shaking. It was as though Damian had become his defender, as though he didn't know any of them. Damian carefully wrapped an arm around Timothy, Timmy's, shoulders and had to bite back his own cursing as Timmy gave him a desperately grateful look before wiping out any expression on his face. Only the trembling of his too-small limbs showed his true feelings. He was terrified and already knew that he shouldn't show the emotion.

"You're frightening him," the older Timothy sighed as he polished his glasses on the hem of his shirt. "Cut it out, both of you. Timmy, you're perfectly safe. What do you remember?"

"N-not much, sir," Timmy said with another look up at Damian for support. "I seem to remember being in some sort of danger and then there was a bright light but I… think I was with my family so it must be okay but… Father isn't here. Is, is Mother around?"

"Oh dear," Timothy sighed. "I'm afraid your memory's quite messed up, Timmy. The young man holding you is Damian, your brother by adoption. The loud one over there is Jason and he's the one who's been taking care of you lately, along with the rest of his family. This is Jay, my husband. I'm Doctor Drake. You can call me Doc for now."

Timmy frowned at Doc's words, cocking his head curiously. "That doesn't make sense. My parents wouldn't adopt anyone. Mother doesn't want any more children. She said so when I asked her if I'd ever have any siblings. She was very firm about that."

Doc smiled sadly at him, nodding towards the machine and the costume that no longer fit Timmy. Jason's cursing had stopped utterly when Doc snapped at him and Jay was silent and so stiff that it looked like he wanted to hurt someone.

"The machine you're under de-ages people, Timmy," Doc said gently. "You've lost quite a few years of your life and the memories that go with them. There are many years of life that you don't remember right now, which would explain how Damian can be your brother despite your mother's wishes. It's okay. This is completely fixable. I'm going to need to check the machine and do some work on it but I should be able to put you to rights fairly soon. I don't imagine you'll be little for more than a week or two at the very most."

Damian's stomach lurched down to his toes and he involuntarily hugged Timmy close at the horror of what had been inflicted on Timothy, his brother. He found it strangely impossible to think of Timmy as anything other than his brother, especially as Timmy clutched his shirt and made a little whimpering noise as if he'd been stabbed.

"How old am I really?" Timmy whispered to Damian, again trusting Damian more than anyone else in the room.

"Grown up," Damian whispered back as he tried to figure out what he'd done to make Timmy trust him so much. "Jason is a couple of years older than you but that's all. I'm actually much younger than you are."

Timmy turned to stare at Jason, who looked at him as though someone had ripped his heart out and stomped on it. Damian squirmed at the way Timmy frowned thoughtfully and then turned back to Damian, far too adult questions in his eyes. Instead of simply asking Jason, Timmy carefully put his arms around Damian's neck and tucked his face into the nook of Damian's neck.

"We're lovers?" Timmy whispered, shuddering at the thought of it.

"Yes, you were. He loves you. He saved the universe, billions of lives, all for you," Damian sighed, patting Timmy's narrow back.

"For me?" Timmy asked, pulling back enough to stare into Damian's eyes. His expression showed nothing but complete shock that anyone would ever do such a thing for him. It hurt to see that expression. How could Timothy Drake ever have been that unsure of himself and unloved?

Damian nodded, smiling far too wryly because he wasn't sure how to address these strange feelings Timmy inspired in his heart. "It is a very long story that I am certain he would tell you in great detail. It appears that there will be time for you to hear it all if you wish to."

It was so odd. There was no way that he could lie to this child. This wasn't the Timothy Drake that he'd known and hated since his first meeting. Looking into Timmy's young eyes was entirely too much like looking at himself when he was younger, before his training had begun in earnest. This version of Timothy was like looking back into his earliest memories when all he knew was the lab and his mother, along with his grandfather's demands for complete perfection. Timmy Drake was fragile, far too intelligent for his own good and Damian could see how badly he wanted people's approval. The need showed in every too-careful move that the child-Timothy made.

"Oh. Okay. I guess." Timmy shivered again and curled into Damian's lap, apparently trusting Damian to protect him above all others.

Doc had Damian pull Timmy off to the side, having them to sit together on a soft sofa with a warm blanket while he worked. Jay brought what looked like tiny black pajamas for Timmy to wear. He slipped into them under the blankets and then blushed when Jason came to sit with them, the now-defunct suit hanging in his hands.

"Sorry," Jason mumbled to Timmy.

"Um, for what?" Timmy asked, casting another look at Damian for reassurance before answering Jason's apology.

"I screwed up when I made your suit," Jason said, staring at the limp fabric rather than meeting Timmy's eyes. "If I hadn't made a couple of big mistakes this wouldn't have happened."

"Oh no, I'm sure I must have done something wrong," Timmy reassured Jason, awkwardly patting his elbow. "Mother's always telling me not to touch things because I'll break them."

Jason's heart was in his eyes as he scooped Timmy up into his lap for a hug that made Timmy gasp and then melt into the affection. Damian thought that at this age Timmy must have been starved for love; the thought made his heart lurch because he understood that entirely too well and seeing it played out in his de-aged nemesis made him want to curse in several languages. He wasn't normally this sympathetic and he didn't like being confronted with things that made him reassess everything he'd ever thought about Timothy.

In the background Jay and Doc argued quietly, companionably, about the machine and what could be done to restore Timmy to his proper age. From their banter, it was clear to Damian that it would be relatively simple to reverse, as long as an adequate power source could be obtained. Damian was fairly certain from Doc's vaguely insulted tone of voice as he replied to Jay's questions that Timmy's memories would be restored when he was returned to his proper age, though there appeared to be some doubt as to whether Timothy would remember the time he spent at four years old.

"Can we take Timmy home?" Damian asked as Jason cuddled Timmy in much the way he did the adult Timothy, though with no groping, thank goodness. "I believe that he would be more comfortable there than here."

"Hmm?" Doc murmured, pulling his head out of the guts of the device to peer at them. "Oh, yes, certainly. Check back daily. I need to talk to your counterpart about the power source but it should be ready in a few days to a week. Fortunately it looks like the feedback surge went through the suit, not through my de-aging device. I have a few boards to repair but nothing substantial. It's a relatively simple job."

"And why were you creating this thing, anyway?" Jay growled at Doc.

"No reason," Doc said, blushing so brightly that Jason started chuckling and Timmy stared at him curiously. "All right, fine. It was supposed to be a birthday present for you but I haven't managed to stop the memory loss or confine the aging effect to only a decade or so. You keep saying that your knees are bothering you."

Jay went brick red and made a grumbling harrumphing noise that had Damian smirking and Timmy giggling into Jason's shirt. Damian got up and offered a hand to Jason and Timmy. Timmy immediately took it. Jason hesitated a moment, watching somewhat warily as Timmy curled into Damian's side.

"Let us go home," Damian said. "I believe the others will want to know what has happened."

"No doubt about that," Jason sighed. "See you soon, Chief. Maybe if you didn't fight with Doc so much you wouldn't spend so much time on your knees."

Damian choked on all the things he wanted to say about how inappropriate that comment had been but he was unwilling to say them in front of four-year-old Timmy. It didn't seem to matter whether Damian was able to say it or not as Timmy huffed and ever so lightly batted Jason's hand, making him jump. Jason stared down into Timmy's too-serious eyes and then blushed at the little tisking noise that Timmy made. The sound was so much like Damian's own 'tt' sound when he was dismayed by adults that Damian's heart squeezed again.

"Be nice," Timmy huffed at Jason while curling his fingers into Damian's hand.

"Sorry, kiddo," Jason apologized. "I'll try and watch my tongue but no guarantees. I'm pretty bad at it."

Timmy smiled shyly at him and offered his free hand to Jason who took it and beamed at him. "Home?"

"Home," Jason said. "Not the home you're used to but it's home for all of us."

Timmy looked up at Damian, seeking confirmation that still stunned Damian coming from one that he'd regarded as an enemy for so long. Damian nodded and squeezed Timmy's fingers.

"It is home," Damian agreed. "We live with my father and his sons. I believe you will like Alfred. He takes very good care of all of us, even when we are difficult."

Timmy nodded with a tiny little smile that disappeared nearly the instant it was born. He looked at Doc and Jay, then at Jason before turning his trusting gaze on Damian. The smile lasted a little longer and Timmy's fingers squeezed Damian's palm as best they could.

"Okay, take us home," Timmy said.

Damian shivered and pressed the return button on his belt, unsure whether he would be able to deal with the level of trust and acceptance that the de-aged Timothy offered him. No one in his memory had ever given him so much for so little before.

 

+++++

"This is home, sort of," Jason said once they'd arrived in the Cave.

The last thing they should have done was come straight back to the Cave but Damian's belt wasn't set up to go anywhere else than the automatic return place they'd set up ages ago. Jason could have taken them to the kitchen, the garden, or even Tim's fucking room but since Damian did it, here they were, adding to the probably not-smart complete honesty. Jason really fucking hoped that telling little Timmy everything was the right thing to do. Of course he couldn't imagine how the hell he could have kept Timmy in the dark about his family, his home and his life but someone, somewhere, would inevitably tell him after the fact that he did this totally wrong. It was just his fucking luck.

So of course, Timmy's eyes went so wide once they materialized that they almost looked like they were going to pop out of his sockets. He sidled up to Damian, clinging to his arm as if Damian was his fucking anchor. Truthfully, Jason wasn't sure which of the three of them was the most freaked out. Sure, he'd lost his lover (again) and Timmy had lost way too fucking many years but Damian looked like he was about the claw his way out of his skin from the trust and respect that Timmy was giving him.

"The… Batcave?" Timmy whispered his voice just barely audible over the sleepy squeak of the bats overhead.

"Um, yeah," Jason sighed. "Not handling this very well, are we? Sorry, you can smack me later for not breaking things to you easy if you want to."

Timmy shook his head 'no' slowly, staring around them with so much awe that maybe it was okay. Jason thought he could see a hint of memory in Timmy's eyes though that faded almost immediately back to the too-smart four-year-old Timmy that he was now. He cocked his head up at Damian, frowning fiercely.

"Was I Batman or something?" Timmy asked hesitantly.

Damian snorted and Jason laughed at his indignation as he shook his head no. Before either Damian or Jason could explain what had actually happened, Dick bounded around the corner with his mask off and a bright, welcoming smile in its place. Bruce was right behind him, the cowl pushed back so that his face was exposed to Timmy's stunned gaze. Timmy immediately hid behind Damian and clutched his hand desperately.

"You're back!" Dick said and then actually stumbled as he saw Timmy half hiding behind Damian. "Oh my God, Timmy! What happened?"

"I ah, appear to have lost some time," Timmy answered in a too grown up tone of voice. The way his knees shook the overly large hoodie he was still wearing made that tone into a blatant lie.

Dick knelt down and smiled so brightly at Timmy that Jason was tempted to belt him. "I can see that. Do you recognize me? I'm Dick Grayson. You came to Haley's Circus and I did a triple somersault just for you. It was a long time ago for me but I think it might be pretty recent for you."

"Dick?" Timmy breathed, the tremors disappearing into total awe mixed with sorrow. "You're Dick? Dick Grayson? You live here? And, and, and I'm your brother, too?"

"Yeah, a lot of stuff happened before we became brothers, but you're my little brother, just like Damian and Jason. There're Steph and Cass, and a bunch of other people you won't know now who are part of the family," Dick said. "You have great big family that loves you, Timmy."

Timmy's bottom lip wobbled as tears welled up in his eyes. When Dick opened his arms for a hug Timmy dove into Dick's embrace, trembling as he cried breathy little sobs that Jason could just barely hear. It hurt way more than Jason wanted to admit to have Timmy turning to everyone else instead of him but Jason did his best not to let it show. The last thing Timmy needed right now was Jason's jealousy.

"Sorry…" Timmy said, snuffling after he said the word. "So sorry."

"Hey, don’t feel bad. It's been a long, long time for me," Dick said soothingly. "How long has it been for you? A month or so?"

"Mmm-hmm," Timmy nodded. "Still sorry."

Jason sucked in a breath as he realized exactly what they were talking about. Bruce's expression went black as he figured out the same thing. No wonder Timmy was so quiet and skittish. To him Dick's parent's death had happened just a month ago, not years ago. As they tried to hide their reactions before Timmy turned around, Damian frowned and looked up at Jason with a question in his eyes that made Jason bite back more cursing that would upset Timmy. Bruce sighed and rubbed a hand through his sweaty hair, looking just as broken as Jason felt.

"I do not understand," Damian admitted quietly.

"Timmy witnessed Dick's parents being murdered," Jason murmured. "To him it happened a fucking month ago."

"Tisk." Timmy clucked his tongue and glared at Jason for a second while scrubbing the tears off his cheeks. Dick kept cuddling him and grinned at Jason's wince.

"Sorry," Jason chuckled. "Did warn you that I have a foul mouth. You hungry, kiddo? I'm sure you've gotta be tired and hungry after everything that's happened."

Timmy nodded cautiously and moved back to Damian's side. That made Damian's breath catch but he seemed to put aside his freak out when Timmy leaned against him. Jason led the way upstairs, leaving Dick and Bruce to get cleaned up before joining them. Steph was already in the kitchen with Alfred, tiredly munching on a sandwich. She stared for a second when they came in and then squealed; grabbing Timmy and hugging him so tightly that he squawked and flailed his arms.

"Oh my god, you're so cute!" Steph said. "Tiny Tim! This is so adorable, Tim!"

"Ack! What? Who? Let me go!" Timmy complained while struggling against Steph's hugs and the way she kept rubbing her cheek against his hair. "Jason! _Damian! Help!_ "

"Let him go!" Damian snapped at Steph the instant Timmy called his name.

He stormed in and pulled Timmy out of her arms while Jason pulled her away from Timmy. The instant that Timmy was free he clung to Damian like a little monkey. Steph pouted until Jason put his hand on her shoulder to make her stop. Unlike the rest of them, Alfred seemed to be completely unphased by Tim's transformation.

"He doesn't remember us," Jason told Steph. "The only person he remembers is Dick. Pretty much the last thing he remembers is going to Haley's Circus and seeing Dick and his parents."

Steph's hands flew to her mouth and her eyes went wide. Behind them, Alfred sighed and set out a blueberry scone and a mug of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.

"I think a snack and bedtime is in order then," Alfred said far too calmly. "If you will bring Master Timothy over, Master Damian, then I shall endeavor to determine if we have any clothes that will fit. I believe some of Master Dick's old clothing may still be in storage, though I cannot vouch to their condition. Master Dick was always rather hard on his clothing. Do we know how long he will be this way?"

"The Doc said that it would be about a week," Timmy said. His eyes had locked on the scone and cocoa as soon as Alfred set them out. "Maybe a little longer. Is that for me?"

"It is indeed, Master Timothy," Alfred said with one of his little smiles.

The after patrol snacks were much stranger than normal. Timmy watched everyone come in, cataloging them with his eyes but not asking a single question. By the time everyone had reported in, including Barb calling over the phone to make sure Tim was okay, Timmy was yawning despite his efforts to hide his tiredness. Jason smiled at him and moved a lock of his hair out of Timmy's eyes.

"I think it's bedtime for you, kiddo," Jason said. "You sleep across the hall from me and two doors up from Damian. Wanna go see your room?"

"I have a room here?" Timmy asked, the word 'here' broken by a huge yawn.

"You sure do," Jason said. "Come on. Let's get you tucked in. I'll tell you a bedtime story if you want."

Timmy let Jason pick him up, snuggling in his arms in much the same way his older version did. It was sad, painful and comforting all at the same time. Jason took Tim to his room, aware that Damian was shadowing them silently, that Bruce, Steph and Alfred had started to whisper when they left the room. Dick did a cartwheel down the hallway for Timmy before going into his room and waving goodnight.

"It is my room," Timmy commented once the light was on. He looked around approvingly, smiling at how neat and tidy everything was.

"Yup," Jason said, pulling back the covers so that Timmy could crawl into his too-big bed. "It's all yours."

"Damian said that you'd tell me about my life, the things I've forgotten," Timmy said once he was tucked in and snuggled under the covers. "Will you?"

"You'll fall asleep in the middle," Jason warned him. "I'm pretty tired, kiddo and you're way more tired than I am."

"You can tell me again tomorrow," Timmy said. He tried for assertive but it came out hopeful instead. "Please?"

Jason chuckled and settled down on the bed next to Timmy. He was pretty sure that Timmy would be out like a light in just a couple of minutes. The thing was that he was equally sure that he'd be out soon too. Too long of a day with too much crap going on to stay awake for terribly long.

"Okay," Jason said as he brushed the hair off Timmy's forehead again. "Once upon a time, because all stories should start that way even if they are just history."

"Silly," Timmy giggled, poking Jason's hip and grinning at him.

" _Once_ upon a time," Jason repeated with an answering grin, "There was a little boy named Timmy who went with his parents to the circus. A sad, bad thing happened at the circus, and another little boy named Dick lost his parents while Timmy was watching. In the crowd, there was a man named Bruce and he saw the whole thing. He felt really bad for Dick because he'd lost his parents when he was about the same age…"

Jason smiled as Timmy's eyes drooped, opened wide, drooped and opened again. Yeah, Timmy wasn't going to be awake for long but that was all right. He'd tell Timmy the story of his life as often as he wanted until he was back to normal. Hopefully that would happen sooner rather than later. Having Tim be so young was going to break his fucking heart, but at least it seemed to be doing good things for his relationship with Damian. Maybe every cloud did have a silver lining after all.

+++++

Tim sighed and cuddled up to the broad chest under his cheek. He was warm and comfortable, snuggled against someone he dearly loved. Everything felt utterly right, as though he were in perfect sync with the universe. When he opened his eyes there was a distinct moment where that rightness swelled within him and he felt as though nothing had happened. It hit at exactly the moment that he saw Jason's sleeping face and heard the little snore that told him Jason had fallen asleep in his clothes again.

Then it disappeared when he noticed how small he was compared to Jason and the memories that had filled his dreams faded away into nothingness. Jason snorted and woke up, blinking down at Tim. He smiled sadly, ruffling Tim's hair fondly before sitting up and stretching. Memories of the normal way that they woke fluttered in the back of his mind but Tim couldn't grasp them well enough to bring them into focus. He bit his lip, all his happiness fading into misery that Jason seemed to see but didn't respond to.

"Told you that I was tired too," Jason chuckled a little ruefully while patting Tim's back gently. "Looks like I sacked out right after you did."

"It's… it's okay," Tim said, faint flutters of memories shimmering through his mind. It was as though the memories were across the room instead of in his head, dancing away from his every effort to catch them and hold them still for examination. "I slept well, I guess. I, I don't really remember much of what you told me."

"I can tell you again," Jason said. "As many times as you want, Timmy."

Sorrow and love mixed in his eyes in a way that made Tim want to fling his arms around Jason's neck even though another part of him told him that it was completely inappropriate for him to do that with someone he didn't know. But he did know Jason, or he would know him, no did. Did not.

The struggle to know which part of his faulty, broken memory was right made Tim draw in a shuddery breath and hug himself. Jason frowned at him, one too-large hand resting on Tim's shoulder in an obvious effort to comfort that wasn't as comforting as it ought to have been.

"You okay, Timmy?" Jason asked.

"Just… strange," Tim said past the lump of weirdness that had formed in his chest.

"What have you done now?" Damian asked from the doorway.

He glared at Jason but when he looked at Tim his expression was as wildly contradictory as Tim's memories. There was fierce protectiveness, disgust, anger, confusion, and a sort of helpless worry in his eyes whenever he looked at Tim. It helped so much to see someone else who was as thrown off his balance by what had happened to Tim as Tim was. Tim smiled at Damian, resisting the urge to grin when Damian just barely shuddered.

"Nothing," Tim said. "I'm fine. Do I have any clothes?"

"Yes," Damian said, nodding towards the too-big desk with its carefully stacked books and papers. A small stack of perfectly folded clothes was waiting for him. "Alfred said that he located some apparel that might be closer to your size. If that does not work you could borrow something of mine I suppose, though it will still be far too large."

The flittering memories told Tim that he wasn't supposed to trust anything that Damian did but he was as covertly upset about all of this as Tim was and he reminded Tim of Dick. As Tim tried on the clothes with Jason and Damian's quiet assistance he had to admit that it wasn't quite that Damian was anything like Dick. They were approximately the same age, or well, not really because the real Dick poked his head in to smile brilliantly at Tim and tell them that breakfast was ready. It was more that he was close to Tim's age, and younger than the others, and so clearly unsure of how he fit in that it might be that Damian reminded Tim of himself.

He'd always wondered where he fit, though he'd learned not to ask.

Damian seemed to have learned the same lessons that Tim had, as he didn't ask Tim anything when Tim took his hand. Breakfast was awkward because everyone other than Damian seemed to be attempting to pretend Tim wasn't a child, that there was nothing strange going on. Tim hoped that when he was a grown up, or more accurately, when he returned to adulthood, he had that sort of control, though right now he found it somewhat intimidating.

"What now?" Tim asked Damian as Alfred patted his head and took the breakfast dishes away to wash. "Do we help? Learn things? I… I can always go read so that I'm not troubling anyone. I like reading."

Tim's voice got quieter and quieter after the offer made the adult faces go black with frustrated anger. Jason looked like he wanted to hit someone, though Tim had no idea who. Damian wrapped an arm around Tim's shoulders and stood up a little straighter.

"We will go play some of those absurd games that Dick insisted on getting me," Damian announced. "I expect that you will go check on Doc and see whether or not the device is fixed, correct Jason?"

"You bet," Jason said, the anger fading into amusement and determination. "You two have fun."

Damian took Tim's hand and led him out to one of the many rooms. This one had a TV and some sort of console. Tim listened as Damian explained how it worked, nodding approval for a racing game with cartoon go-carts. Once it was on Tim smiled, wondering if he could be friends with Damian. He crashed when the wisps of memory told him that they were something like enemies instead.

"Sorry," Tim said. "I guess I'm not good at this."

"It is a game," Damian said stiffly. "Practice is required to improve at it and this is the first time you've played."

"True," Tim said, smiling shyly at Damian's incredibly poor attempt at comforting him. "But I meant me, being… Tim. I'm not, I've never been good with people. Daddy says I take after Mother and she's _terrible_ at it. So. I'm, um, sorry that I'm not more… personable."

Damian frowned at him, pausing the game so that he could properly stare at Tim.

"I do not know what to make of you," Damian said. His expression had that wild mix of contradictory emotions in it, mixed this time with reluctant approval.

"Neither do I," Tim offered along with a tiny smile that appeared and disappeared because Tim wasn't sure if he should be smiling at Damian.

"Well, let us play then," Damian said with a shrug that was anything but casual. "It will pass the time until all of this," he waved at Tim's current size, "is fixed."

"Okay," Tim said happily. "Maybe we can play something adventurous later?"

"Perhaps," Damian said as he tried to force Tim off of the track and failed. "Later. Racing now."

Tim grinned and let his tongue stick out between his lips as he fought to win the race. Maybe his memories were being stubborn and not letting him remember them but the others looked like they'd fix it and Damian wasn't too bad. Tim was just glad that he did have someone to spend time with who didn't try and pretend it was all okay. He'd rather be uncomfortable with it all and Damian let him. It was really quite nice, even though Damian was kind of a jerk when he lost the race.

 

+++++

It should not feel like acceptance when Timmy curled up against Damian's side and fell asleep. Damian knew this. They were not friends nor would they ever be friends. In no point in the past or the future would they be friends, or perish the thought, brothers. Despite that, Timmy showed a marked preference for Damian's company over every other person in the Manor.

He always went to bed with Jason, cuddling against him as if he hoped that he would wake up back to his adult self. During sleep, his face was calm and relaxed though it showed no signs of the drive and intelligence that marked adult Tim. Damian snuck into Tim's bedroom every night to reassure himself that this was not a dream, that it was real, though he would die before he admitted it to anyone else in the house.

Steph had become somewhat annoyed by Timmy's absolute insistence on having someone, preferably Damian, between him and her but Damian truly couldn't blame her. The way she hugged Timmy the instant she saw him was somewhat traumatic, especially given that Damian was reasonably certain that Timmy had never been hugged freely when he was this age. Alfred was very careful in his interactions with Timmy and had been since Timmy admitted that he wasn't sure how to interact with the butler who was clearly not a butler for the Wayne family. It was obvious that the Drake family never allowed such closeness with their servants as Bruce did.

Clark and Bruce, Jason, Dick, everyone else in the household and outside of it were viewed with suspicion but Damian was apparently the one who set the stars and moon in the sky in Timmy's mind. Because of Timmy's strange partiality to Damian's company, they had taken over one of the drawing rooms, set up every sort of game or computer appropriate for a four-year-old and spent a significant portion of each day simply 'hanging out' together.

And nearly every afternoon at 2:23 pm, never later than 2:41 pm, Timmy slowly drifted off to sleep curled up against Damian's side. Having never been a child forced into naps, Damian had no idea at first why it happened. Alfred had explained the concept of small children needing naps one night after Timmy and Jason went to bed. After that, Damian simply made sure that they were playing a quieter game in the afternoon around Timmy's naptime and that there were plenty of pillows and a blanket close by.

"Asleep?" Jason whispered from the doorway as Damian carefully eased Timmy back onto the pillows and then covered him with the blanket.

"Yes," Damian whispered back. "Any news?"

"Just headed out to find out," Jason murmured. "Might not be back tonight. Think you can handle him for the night?"

"Yes, I can," Damian replied. "Go. This needs to be repaired as soon as possible."

Jason nodded, looking at Timmy with so much love in his eyes that Damian glared at him. That was hardly appropriate given Timmy's current age, though of course the real problem as far as Damian was concerned that the depth of their affection for each other was a danger to them in combat. He didn't say anything nor did Jason.

Once Jason left, Damian settled back and studied Timmy. This younger counterpart of his hated predecessor was so completely different from the adult Timothy Drake that they seemed to be two completely different entities. He couldn't trace how a hesitant, too-small, overly intelligent boy became the annoyance that Damian was used to. Trying to plot that progression out filled the hour or so that Timmy slept, which led to Damian being surprised when Timmy opened his eyes and stared up at him.

"You're staring," Timmy commented. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat up, still wrapped in the blanket.

"As are you," Damian huffed.

"You started it," Timmy countered but there was a tiny smile flitting around his lips.

"What?" Damian asked so warily that Timmy giggled.

"Nothing," Timmy said and shrugged. He blushed when Damian continued to stare at him as if he were going to sprout an extra head and wings. "It's just…"

"Just?"

"I've never had a friend before," Timmy admitted in a whisper that Damian barely heard even though they were sitting next to each other in a silent room.

Damian stared at him in shock this time. That certainly wasn't something that he would have expected, not from Tim Drake, friend of everyone Damian ever interacted with. Timmy blushed brightly and squirmed under the gaze.

"I mean, I know I obviously learn how to make friends," Timmy continued while picking at the blanket, "and I know, I can tell, well, sort of remember except that I can't quite remember it, that we're not supposed to be friends at all. But, but you, we, um, sort of seem to be friends, at least for now and it's nice because I never had a friend before. My parents were always gone and no one got to come over very much and well, I wasn't allowed to be friends with the servants. So. Um, no friends before."

"I am not supposed to like you!" Damian grumbled.

Timmy giggled at that and nodded his agreement.

"I am also not supposed to understand you, to feel sorry for you, to feel like I need to protect you," Damian continued with completely inappropriate waving of his hands that approached flailing. "I am supposed to destroy you. You're my enemy, the person blocking me from truly taking my place as my father's heir. This is completely bizarre and uncomfortable and I do not like being forced to reconsider everything that I have ever thought about you!"

"I agree," Timmy said, nodding calmly at Damian. "That's why I like being around you. The others all pretend that everything is okay and I can't do that. It's worse than just being uncomfortable with it. I kind of hope that I get that good at pretending things are okay when I'm grown up."

"You are very good at it," Damian told Timmy who blinked and smiled, then frowned, then cocked his head as if wondering whether that was actually a good thing. "I do not wish to discuss this any further."

"Neither do I," Timmy declared in a tone that matched Damian's though he was grinning.

"More racing?"

"Racing sounds good," Timmy said. He eyed the gory race car game that Clark had put on the top of the shelf where neither Damian nor Tim could easily reach it. "Think we can get that one?"

Damian considered it as his lips slowly slid into a wicked smirk. "I believe if I boost you up we might be able to."

The strangeness of being friendly with Timothy Drake was still there as he met Timmy's eyes but having acknowledged it and having had Timmy acknowledge it made him feel better about it all. Perhaps Timmy would forget everything that had happened when he returned to his proper age or perhaps not but that hardly mattered now.

Now there was an illicit game to acquire and hopefully in this one he would be able to crush his enemy as was proper. Damian absolutely refused to admit that Timothy was better at anything than Damian, especially when he was only four years old. There was no way that a four year old could be a better driver than Damian, no matter who that four year old might be.

 

+++++

"Tell me we made some fucking progress."

Timothy turned to snap at Jason but it was the kid, not his Jason. That it was his Jason had been a reasonable enough assumption given all the times his Jason had snarled those exact words at Timothy, but hearing them from his younger counterpart instead did nothing to improve his already chancy temper.

"Of course I've made progress," Timothy snapped at the kid. "I've been making progress steadily for the last week and a half. It's just not _done_ yet."

"Any idea how long?" the kid asked in a much more respectful and wary tone of voice.

The kid at least appeared to see that Timothy was clinging his last straw and approaching the very end of it, metaphorically speaking. Normally that awareness and acknoweldgement of his temper would have been enough to calm Timothy down, but after the fight he'd had with Jason this morning and the entire mess with Steph last night, which Timothy fully blamed on Jason, there simply wasn't enough respect in the world to make Timothy relax and apologize for snapping the kid's head off.

"As I told your counterpart eleven times this morning," Timothy said in much the same tone of voice as before as he gestured for the kid to pass him the micro-spanner, "no, no idea. This is a prototype machine and it takes as long as it takes to repair it."

"Can I help?" the kid asked as he passed the correct micro-spanner over.

"How long do you have?" Timothy asked. He'd expected to get the wrong one and thus was pleasantly enough surprised to allow the kid to help for a while.

"Doc, I'll give you as much time as you need," the kid said so seriously that Timothy pulled back and stared at him.

Jason looked back at Timothy with enough pain and worry in his eyes that Timothy was reasonably certain that he was going out of his mind behind the façade that every Jason Todd seemed determined to wear. Rather than comment on the stupidity of the façade, Timothy went back to work, gesturing for tools and then being pleasantly surprised when the kid gave him the correct ones each time. His tech skills were considerably better than Timothy would have expected, even given the kid's adventure through the Multiverse.

"You're better at this than my Jason," Timothy commented about an hour later.

"Tech stuff?" the kid asked. He chuckled at Timothy's absent nod. "Hey, survival will get you good at unexpected things. You can't tell me that your Jay hasn't learned a few things since you two met."

"Sometimes I swear that he deliberately forgets so that he won't have to help," Timothy said so acidly that the kid whistled and peered at him.

"Okay," the kid said, drawling the word out into a dozen syllables, "what brought that on? You two fighting again?"

Timothy sighed. It was easier to work on the complicated connections between the main circuit board and the peripheral computer hookups than it was to answer that question so he ignored the kid's question in favor of things that didn't possess emotions or make unexpected demands. The kid let him work for another half hour before chuckling softly.

"You two are so alike," the kid mused. "My Tim does this too. Works instead of answering questions. Used to drive me nuts until my Tim finally explained that he's just not good at putting emotions into words. Can show it really well when he chooses but you can't blink or you'll miss it. Doesn't seem to me that the Chief pays that close of attention most of the time."

"He's busy," Timothy said in reluctant explanation. "There's a major tech running ring working in town and he's been very busy dealing with the chaos they're causing."

He firmly kept his head inside of the machine so that the kid wouldn't see the entirely too adolescent blush staining his cheeks. One would think that after turning fifty blushing no longer occurred but Timothy still had that particular curse. The kid's snort of amusement only made his cheeks burn harder.

"Yeah, but that doesn't stop you from wanting him to notice when you do give him a clue," the kid countered. "Don't try that on me, Doc. You know I'm not him."

"No, but you're strangely like he was when we first met," Timothy mused as he finished the connections and began testing them. "Much more self-aware, I grant, but very much like him."

"How did you two meet?" the kid asked.

He offered the proper circuit tester without prompting, making Timothy laugh and peek out at him. The kid grinned cockily and shrugged as if it was nothing. Perhaps for him it was nothing. This Jason certainly was considerably more technically skilled than Timothy's Jason. Timothy took the tester and retreated into the machine while pondering how to answer the question with full awareness that the kid would let him think for a while before prompting him again.

"Actually, I was a tech god," Timothy said after a few minutes of quiet, companionable work.

"A what?"

"Heh, that's what we call someone who… meddles with tech and makes it do things it's not supposed to do," Timothy chuckled. "It can range from mild, harmless things like getting games to play on different platforms up to some truly stupendous feats of tech engineering that are… quite illegal and rightly so given their potential for destruction."

"Ah, a hacker, okay."

"Good term for it," Timothy said and nodded even though the kid couldn't see the nod. "A lot of the work does involve rewiring. So, that was my 'hobby', as I called it. My parents were very busy and rarely concerned themselves with my activities as long as I appeared when expected and got good grades. If I wasn't in trouble at school then obviously I wasn't doing anything wrong, at least in their minds."

"Is there any version of Tim Drake who had loving parents?" the kid sighed with so much annoyance that Timothy poked his head out to smirk at him. "Don't answer that."

"I don't believe that I could," Timothy said before returning to his work. "You're the interdimensional traveler, not me. At any rate, my Jason was already in the police force, working as a grunt in the anti-tech runner squads. He knew a bunch of us and didn't turn us in. I don't think Jason really understood at that point how lethal tech goding could be."

They both went silent as Timothy finished his repair work and emerged to do a series of tests on the component connections. It worked well enough that the kid was grinning by the time they were finished, though Timothy knew that there was still a good bit of programming work to do. The whole memory loss issue had to be addressed or Timmy might not get his memories back once he'd returned to his proper age. Once Timothy had settled in at his computers, the kid poked his shoulder.

"What?"

"So what happened?" the kid asked. "You know, back when you met?"

"Ah," Timothy said, mentally cursing his cheeks yet again as he blushed brightly. "Well, I um, got into a project with another tech god that was… as potentially destructive as your counterpart taking your place in the multiverse. It was rather complicated but it boils down to the fact that I was fourteen, she was seventeen and gorgeous and I tried to impress her by doing something that could have destroyed the entire world. Possibly the entire solar system, if some of my calculations after the fact are accurate."

The kid started snickering, one hand over his mouth as if to hide his grin. Timothy glared at him but knew that it wasn't effective, not given his blush and the way his ears had started burning. Rather than continue a losing battle, Timothy turned back to his computers and began working on the programs.

"I'm not even going to ask who she was," the kid said. "But the Chief caught on and snapped you out of it?"

"No, actually he arrested us both when his supervisor found out. He was hauling us away," Timothy said wryly. "Unfortunately, the experiment had already progressed to the point of no return. My… friend panicked and was worthless. I managed to find a solution, with Jason's gun to my head, and stopped everything before it got too deadly. That led to my being in juvenile prison for a year before my parents got me out and to Jason becoming my friend once I was released. It took quite a long while before I was allowed to have anything to do with tech but once I was, I earned my degrees and began working with the tech police. I understood how important their work was by that point."

Timothy nearly levitated out of his chair as Jason's rich laughter sounded from across the room. It was his Jason, not the kid, and when Timothy turned to stare at him there was rueful appreciation in Jason's eyes, along with a wry smile. He leaned against the doorjamb like he was holding the building up. There were bandages on his hands and a new bruise on his cheek, but other than that he appeared to be fine.

"He's leaving a hell of a lot out," Jason said dryly.

"Well, duh," the kid said. "Come on, I have my own Tim. I know when he's trying to protect someone. You into tech running or something worse?"

"Oh, way worse," Jason said and sighed. "Tim's work wouldn't have been deadly if we hadn't barged in. Mine… mine was already deadly."

"End up in prison?" the kid asked so casually that Timothy wondered if the kid had actually been thrown in prison during his adventures.

"Nah, got promoted actually," Jason laughed. "My supervisor was even dirtier than I was. Hell, the whole damn force is dirtier than hell and always was. Trying to fix it but it's tough."

The kid shook his head as if he couldn't quite grasp the whole concept. After a second, Jason pushed away from his place by the door and came over to stand hesitantly next to Timothy's computer. There was blood on the bandages on his hands, which made Timothy stare and then raise an eyebrow at Jason. Jason shrugged the concern away as nothing, wiggling his fingers at Timothy to show him that he was fine. Timothy grumbled wordlessly at him, at which point the kid chuckled and threw his hands up.

"If you two are going to start have old married couple silent discussions I'm going to get out of here and check on my Tim," the kid said with a lot more amusement than annoyance.

Timothy grinned as Jason's cheeks went red. Both Jason's started as Timothy's computer beeped at them that the last set of test runs were done. Rather than answer the identical nonverbal grumble questions from either side, Timothy read over the results and sighed. Finally.

"The system is working properly," Timothy said with considerably more relief than he intended to express. "I need to ensure that that programming is correct but in the next day or two we should be able to restore Timmy."

"You getting those knees fixed?" the kid asked Jason. "You know, once he gets this thing working properly."

"Hell no," Jason huffed. "I'm fine."

Timothy turned to glare at him but the expression in Jason's eyes was anything but confident about that declaration. There was an apology in his eyes that Timothy wasn't sure what to make of but it didn't matter. They most definitely weren't going to have that argument with the kid present.

"Huh, kinda thought you'd say that," the kid said. He patted Timothy's shoulder in such a blatantly reassuring gesture that Timothy had to stare at him. "He doesn't want the aches and pains to go away, you know. They're all legacies of the things the two of you have done together."

There was entirely too much wisdom in the kid's eyes, too much understanding, for Timothy to discount his words. Especially given that Jason started cursing at the kid in the filthiest terms possible. The kid flipped him off and moved away from them both. He rested a hand on his world-shifting belt, raising a hand to Timothy.

"I'll let Timmy know," the kid said. "It'll probably be tomorrow as he should be asleep by now. Got a good time for us to stop by?"

"Make it in about twelve hours," Timothy said. "That should be enough time for me to verify the programming."

"See you then," the kid said and disappeared in a little shimmer of sound and light that was oddly discreet for Jason Todd.

"So what brought on story time?" Jason asked.

He tentatively put a hand on Timothy's shoulder, more apologies and concern in the gesture than Timothy was used to. When Timothy turned to look at him, it was clear that something huge had happened during the day that Jason was going to want to talk about after some filthy sex and cuddling that Jason would never admit to.

"I was a bit snapish and he asked to distract me," Timothy admitted. "I've been at this for about eighteen hours straight. I should get some dinner."

"And some sleep," Jason growled at him. "You're not a kid anymore, Tim."

"Neither are you," Timothy snapped.

"No, no I'm not," Jason sighed.

"You're telling me what happened to put you in this mood," Timothy declared.

"Sure thing, Doc," Jason replied as he offered a bandaged hand to Timothy. "And you're getting some sleep."

"Too wound up," Timothy sighed.

He took the hand and very gently squeezed it. Jason didn't flinch so maybe the wounds weren't too bad after all. Jason laughed and tugged Timothy close for a tender hug that said more than word ever could. Whatever happened today must have been horrific. Timothy hoped that no one had died. It always hurt Jason for days after someone died on his watch.

"I can help with that," Jason murmured with just the right amount of smirk to make it a real offer.

"With your knees?" Timothy asked, putting wry amusement into the words instead of anger so that Jason would know that the offer was very much accepted.

"Hey, you can be on top," Jason said.

"Oh, I get to Top, do I?" Timothy said and then laughed as Jason started and spluttered. "This is an occasion."

"Tim…!" Jason whined while turning so red that he looked as though he'd been dipped in paint.

Timothy laughed and led the way into the kitchen. Maybe things would work out after all. They might be getting older and facing challenges neither of them were prepared for but they did still have each other. Jason's hand was warm and solid in Timothy's palm, reassuring in its apparent lack of change despite the years that had passed since they first me.

"You did say that I could be on top," Timothy teased.

"Doc, for you, even that," Jason murmured, his ears glowing as brightly as his cheeks.

Timothy stopped and stared at him, both eyebrows climbing towards his hairline. "What, exactly, happened today and who are you? You're not my Jason, are you?"

"Doc, take what you can get," Jason said as he leaned into to press an urgent, needy kiss on Timothy's lips. "Life sucks, you know?"

"Food can wait," Timothy said, his heart beating faster. "Bedroom now."

+++++

"It's fixed?" Timmy asked for the eighth time since Jason had announced it this morning. He knew he should stop asking but after so long this way it was hard to believe that he'd soon be back to the normal he couldn't quite remember. "Really?"

"Yup, all fixed so eat your breakfast, Timmy," Jason said with a calm nod and a hand brushed over Timmy's hair that disordered it instead of fixing it. "Gonna need the energy for getting back to normal."

Timmy looked at Damian, who nodded firmly and attached his breakfast, prompting Timmy to do likewise. Alfred took that as an opportunity to sneak extra breakfast to both of them, which Timmy frowned at but didn't complain about. A bigger, grown up, body would need more energy though he really didn't think that he could fit much more in his belly without throwing up from the nerves. All three of them were all done much more rapidly than normal. When they finished and passed Alfred their plates, it seemed like everyone else wanted to come along, which made Timmy gulp and cling to Damian's arm.

"None of that," Jason said while wagging a finger at everyone from Bruce on down to Alfred and Steph. "We don't need the whole horde of you descending on the Doc. He's already twitchy about this."

"Damian can come, can't he?" Timmy asked in such a tiny voice that it was barely audible to even to his own ears. From the expression on Damian's face as Timmy clung to his waist he expected Timmy to be ripped away any second.

"Of course," Jason said with a nod of approval. "Assumed he'd want to since he was in on all of this. Assumed you'd want him to come along, too. The rest of you can wait till we get back. No complaints out of you!"

They headed down to the Batcave, stopping to get Timmy some clothes that were much, much too large for him, though the strange not-memoires told him that they were his size when he was grown up. Probably. The disorientation that came from not remembering made Timmy miss Jason and Damian's words until Jason knelt down and offered him a sparkling bracelet for his wrist.

"This'll keep you safe while we're there," Jason said as he gently wrapped it around Timmy's wrist. "Designed it so it'll expand as you grow, too, though the Doc might make you take it off for the treatment."

"Um, will it hurt?" Timmy asked, trying and failing to hide his nervousness.

Damian wrapped an arm around Timmy's shoulders as if to protect him from the answer while Jason sighed, made a face and then shrugged. "Don't know, kiddo. I didn't ask the Doc about that. I was just glad to get the news that it should work. We can ask when we get there."

The shift between worlds was just as weird this time as it had been before. Timmy had thought that it was disorienting because of the changes he'd gone through before but no, he still felt like he'd been dropped from a great height and lightly kicked in the stomach. When he opened his eyes they were in a completely different world, the one with sleek black walls that had lights built into them and robots that looked like updated versions of something from the Jetsons.

Timmy wondered if he still watched cartoons now that he was living things that were more incredible than anything he'd seen in one. He thought that it was unlikely. Why bother when you could go see and do things that made cartoons look boring and ordinary? Damian's hand was a little too tight around Timmy's as they followed Jason into a lab full of big machines with flashing lights and cracks of electricity that made him start and shiver.

"Hey Doc," Jason called. "Got Timmy here. You ready to fix this mess?"

"Almost," Doc said from his place in front of a bank of computer screens that covered half the wall. He sighed and stretched, the Chief nodding to Timmy from his lounging spot next to Doc. "The programming looks good. The machine itself is working properly. Shouldn't be too much trouble getting your Tim put to rights."

Timmy pulled free of Damian and went over to stand next to Doc, staring up at him until Doc turned and looked down at him with a little smile that looked very familiar. It looked like his own smile, just older and with wrinkles and gray hair and glasses that had text scrolling across them in tiny glowing letters.

"Will it hurt?" Timmy asked quietly enough that Jason, Damian and the Chief shouldn't have heard him. They obviously did from the frowns on their faces.

"Probably," Doc said with a sigh and a sad nod. "You're going to be growing over a decade in a matter of moments, Timmy. That's going to hurt. I suspect that you're going to ache for the next couple of days too, but the pain shouldn't be too much for you to handle."

"Will I remember?" Timmy asked.

"Your past? Oh yes," Doc said so confidently that Timmy relaxed a little, though that wasn't what he'd mean.

"No, I mean what's happened while I've been little," Timmy clarified. "I… I don't want to forget what's happened to me."

Doc frowned and then scooped Timmy up into his lap for a hug that felt almost exactly like hugging his father except that it was nothing at all like that. The arms and warmth and little clucking noises were the same but Doc smelled and sounded and was built totally differently. Timmy hung on, burying his face in Doc's shoulder until the clucks stopped and Doc sighed. When he turned back to the computer screens with Timmy still in his lap, Timmy turned and watched the screens even though they made no sense to him.

"Sure that's wise?" the Chief asked.

"His life, his choice what he wants to remember," Jason huffed grumpily enough that Timmy curled a little closer to Doc.

"It is not your place to tell him what he can or cannot be," Damian said at least twice as fiercely as Jason had.

The Chief stared at Damian and then looked at Jason with one finger pointed in Damian's general direction. "They're… friends?"

"Yeah, I know," Jason sighed as Doc chuckled quietly to Timmy. "Messes with everyone's heads."

"Frienemies," Timmy said, using the term that he and Damian had looked up on the internet the day before.

"That works," Doc said. "Hmm, looks like a firm maybe."

Timmy frowned up at him which prompted Doc to laugh quietly. He shrugged as if there was little to be done about the lack of precision but he pointed to various bits of code on the screen as if he expected that they would make sense to Timmy. Jason peered over his shoulder, on hand resting on Timmy's back as if he couldn't stop himself from touching.

"The base code indicates that a brief reversion to child-like state would result in no memories of what occurred," Doc explained. "However, there is coding so that if the reversion is longer, which this most definitely has been, then the memories gained while reverted will remain when restored. However, the problem is that you've been reverted to a much younger age than this machine was intended for. There's an issue with the maturity of your brain currently and how well memories stored in this brain will transfer over to your proper adult brain. Unfortunately, I'm not sure exactly how it will go. I'd give it a fifty-five percent chance that you will retain most, if not all, of the memories of this time."

"Most is good," Timmy said. "I just don't want to have lost all of it when I'm back to me."

"You won't lose it all," Doc promised, once again completely confident. "I can't guarantee that you'll remember every moment but you will have the important points and the general gist of what happened to you."

That was enough for Timmy to nod and gulp a little in fear because agreeing meant that it was time to let them experiment on him. Doc gave him another hug, complete with clucking noises and then set him down on the floor next to Jason. Given how hard his knees were shaking, Timmy wasn't surprised that Jason promptly picked him up and held him.

"You'll want to take your clothes off," Doc said as he started the machine up and pushed both Damian and the Chief away from it. "They won't grow as you do and frankly, I'd rather you didn't strangle while we restored you."

As Doc worked on the machine, which looked scarier by the moment, Timmy stripped off his clothes and then let Jason wrap him up in a snuggly blanket that Damian offered. While Jason was doing a good job pretending that he wasn't worried and afraid for Timmy, Damian looked as scared as Timmy felt. Just like the last couple of weeks, seeing Damian mirror the emotions that Timmy felt and couldn't hide helped him cope with what he was feeling.

Doc carefully placed Timmy under the machine, which had a classic zap-ray like glowing bulb dangling over his head. He patted Timmy's head and then made everyone back off again. Damian, Jason and the Chief all looked like they wanted to pull Timmy out of the way of the machine so he did his best to look brave even though he didn't feel brave at all.

"Okay, here we go," Doc said. "Brace yourself Timmy and the rest of you stay out of the beam until I give the all clear. I do not want another mistake."

They backed off a couple steps from the ferocity of Doc's glare though Jason took a step forward again when the machine began to hum. Timmy had just long enough to clutch his snuggly blanket to his chest before the energy humming over his head enveloped him in a snapping crackle that reminded him of bubble wrap being popped crossed with thunder and lightning hitting way too close.

Awareness whited out as his knees gave out under the pain and creeping changes that swept over his body. Memories flooded through his mind, random and scattered from all sorts of time periods. He remembered his mother's death, Steph laughing at school, begging Batman for the chance to be Robin, mourning Jason's death, discovering that he was still alive. The red-headed version of Jason battled in his memories with the tender, loving Jason with black hair and a white streak who was shouting something incomprehensible at Doc.

Throughout the growth and the pain, the confusion of his returning memories, Damian watched with an expression that suggested loss and confusion. When the machine abruptly shut off Tim collapsed to the ground with the blanket wrapped around his hips. The floor was very cold under his cheek but it felt good given how incredibly sore he was. Tim felt like he was going to be solid bruise in very short order.

"Tim?" Jason whispered as he gently picked Tim up and cradled him in his arms.

"Ow," Tim replied, his throat hurting as much as the rest of him did.

Tim worked hard to open his eyes, which were rapidly swelling shut in what would probably be spectacular black eyes, so that he could look at Damian and point a finger at him. Even though he remembered hating Damian's guts before this happened, he also remembered very clearly how Damian had protected and taken care of him while he was a child.

"Rematch on Dune Buggy when I can see again," Tim told Damian.

Damian's eyes lit up for a second before he hid the delighted look behind a sneer. "I will destroy you this time."

"Mmm, you wish," Tim said. Smiling hurt but it was worth it to see their reaction through his rapidly swelling eyes. "I really want to go home."

"No problem," Jason said. "Clothes first or just home."

"Home, bed, sleep," Tim said as he laid his head on Jason's shoulder. "Thanks later."

"Don't bother," Doc chuckled. "Just take care of each other."

Tim smiled again, shutting his eyes as Jason scooped him up and then transferred the three of them back to the cave. Exhaustion was dragging at him so Tim ignored the others' voices. Alfred had that extraordinarily fussy tone that meant he was worried about Tim. Bruce sounded grim; same there. Clark squawked and then sighed. He must have scanned Tim and reassured himself that it was just soft tissue damage.

Steph ruffled his hair in passing, commenting to Dick that he and Jason spent way too much time injured. Tim could hear Damian trailing behind them as Jason carried him up to a bedroom, which from the sound of Jason kicking things out of the way had to be Jason's bedroom instead of Tim's.

"Will he be all right?" Damian asked in a quiet enough tone that it was almost a whisper.

"M'fine," Tim mumbled at Damian. "Sleepy."

"Yeah, he'll be okay, Little D," Jason said while tucking Tim into bed. "Think you can get me some cold packs for his eyes?"

"Of course," Damian said.

Tim had to assume that Damian slipped away then. He couldn't open his eyes even if he wanted to. Jason's fingers brushed a lock of hair away from Tim's forehead, so much tenderness in the little gesture that Tim curled towards him and found his lap so that he could rest his head there.

"Are getting injured too much," Tim complained.

"True," Jason agreed. "Seem to be taking turns anyway."

Tim snorted and then let sleep swallow him up. When he could see and move again he was going to insist that they take a proper break from all of this. There was some time before Christmas, depending on how long it took for Tim's body to recover. Either way, he wanted some private time with Jason, away from everyone.

The thought made him smile as he fell asleep.

+++++

Bruce looked up as Tim hobbled into the library, alone for the first time in weeks. He still looked as though he'd taken one of Clayface's fists to the face, with twin black eyes and enough bruising on his face that he was nearly unrecognizable, but he was better than he had been immediately after his return. At the very least he could see and walk without support.

"Feeling better?" Bruce asked.

Tim started and then shrugged while making one of his millisecond smiles at Bruce. "Somewhat. I just came to get some new books to read while I rest."

"And here I thought you were taking a break from Jason and Damian," Bruce said very nearly in his Brucie voice.

Tim snorted a little laugh and nodded as if Bruce had a point. They had been Tim's twin shadows, Damian during his time as a child and Jason since then. At least the constant battles between Tim and Damian had declined. Though they had had a couple of spectacular arguments since his return to his proper age, Bruce thought that it was more a matter of habit. The vicious edge that had marked their fights before was gone and now there was a wary sort of covert friendship, as if they understood each other too well not to want to fight at times.

"It is nice getting away from them for a moment," Tim admitted while pulling several technical books and one novel from the Tom Clancy shelf.

He looked at the door draped with its Christmas decorations and then settled into the armchair opposite Bruce's. It didn't surprise Bruce at all that he couldn't be seen from the door, especially when he hunched down a bit. Rather than say anything Bruce went back to his technical specs for the latest revision to the plane. Tim started reading one technical manual and then switched over to the Clancy book with a contented little sigh.

A few minutes later, shortly after Tim's eyes drifted shut and tiny snores started coming from his armchair, Jason appeared at the door to the Library with a faintly worried expression on his face. He looked at Bruce, glanced around the library and then raised one eyebrow in a silent question to which Bruce felt entirely justified at simply shrugging in reply. Jason sighed and left as quietly as he'd come.

Half an hour later Alfred arrived with tea for Bruce and Tim. Bruce had no idea how he'd known that they were together in the library when no one else had been in since Jason but in Bruce's mind it was yet another of Alfred's special skills. Tim started awake as Alfred poured the tea.

"Mmm, sorry," Tim mumbled while gently rubbing his eyes. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"Master Jason has been looking for you, Master Tim," Alfred said. "Shall I tell him where you are?"

"No," Bruce replied before Tim could. "Tim's taking a break."

Tim's laugh was a tiny sound, easily overwhelmed by Alfred's earthy chuckle. All Alfred did was nod as if that was completely logical and understandable before he departed, gently closing the door behind him as he went. They drank their tea in comfortable silence. By the time Tim had finished his cup his eyes were drooping again. He settled back into his armchair with the Clancy book and fell asleep before he read two pages.

The urge to chuckle was strong but Bruce suppressed it. He didn't want to wake Tim up. Another quiet half hour passed, which was long enough for Bruce to finish his work on the technical specs. Once he was done he sat and watched Tim sleep. The boy had grown so much since he first begged for the right to be Robin. He'd become a man, a hero in his own right and was still one of the smartest people Bruce had ever met.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Tim grumbled as he started and woke up to Damian's voice outside the library door. "I fell asleep again?"

"Mmm-hmm," Bruce murmured as he put his papers in order.

Tim sighed. "I should go back to bed."

"If you want to," Bruce said while pulling a book from the shelves. "I believe that you can sleep here if you want to."

Tim looked at him with a curious expression that was somewhat muddied by the black eyes and bruises. After a moment, his lips quirked in a little smile. He nodded and settled into his chair. Bruce stood and went to get the afghan that Cass had draped over the back of the couch, laying it over Tim's legs and chest. He grinned up at Bruce.

"I think Cass might object to me using her special cuddle blanket," Tim commented while tucking it in up under his chin.

"I doubt that," Bruce said.

They shared a grin before Tim's eyes drooped shut once more. Bruce opened his book and leaned back into his chair to pretend to read as he watched over Tim's rest. Yes, Tim truly had grown up a lot in the last few years. It would be interesting to see where he went in the future. The familiar words of Dickens' _Tale of Two Cities_ lured Bruce's mind away from contemplating the past, giving him a break from the realities of being Batman and Bruce Wayne, just as Bruce was giving Tim the space to take a break from his life.

Bruce smiled at the little snore that echoed from Tim's chair, losing himself in Dickens' world.

+++++

"Okay, so where is everyone?" Jay asked once they'd materialized in Jason's Cave. Absolutely no one was around so the only sounds to be heard were the bats overhead quietly squeaking to each other as they settled in for a day's sleep.

"Maybe upstairs sleeping?" Temp suggested with an arched eyebrow. "We are a little early in the day, you know."

"Well…" Jay trailed off, not sure how to continue the sentence especially with Temp looking up at him with that little smirk that always made his brains drain straight into his groin.

"Come on," Temp said as she headed for the stairs to the kitchen. "We'll check with Alfred. I'm sure their Alfred knows where everyone is just like ours does."

"Would he?" Jay asked in idle curiosity. "I mean, he doesn't have all the trackers and monitoring technology that ours does."

Temp snorted and looked over her shoulder at Jay with that freaked out little smile she'd been getting ever since he proposed. "He knew where all of us were during the big blackout with absolutely no tech of any sort."

"Point."

The kitchen was full of people, as busy as their kitchen ever was at breakfast, even though it wasn't yet noon. Maybe they ate breakfast earlier in this 'verse? Jay took it all in and then cocked his head at Tim who looked like he was recovering from going six rounds with Doomsday.

"What happened to you?" Jay asked and then grinned as everyone whipped around and stared at them. "You look like hell, Tim."

"Jay! Temp!" Jason said, grinning at them from his place next to Tim. "What the fuck are you guys doing here?"

"We're getting married in a couple of days and wanted to invite you two to the wedding," Temp said as she held up the ring Jay had given her. "And seriously, did you get in a fight with a steamroller, Tim?"

"No, I was de-aged for two weeks and then restored," Tim sighed. "The bruises are mostly gone."

"If that's mostly gone I don't want to know what you looked like immediately afterwards," Temp said.

She and Tim exchanged much more gentle hugs than Jay had expected while Jason gave Jay that 'you dog!' look that had gotten them into so many fights before he'd made his way home. Alfred was already preparing them plates of food so Jay settled down next to Temp and let the two Tim Drakes talk about the wedding and how they could attend without making a total mess of the multiverse, or at least without getting the reporters on their asses.

"It's a little strange to invite your alternates from another universe to your wedding," Tim said to Temp.

"I don't think so at all," Temp replied with a ferocious blush that made both Jay and Jason grin at her. From the way she was squirming she was thinking of their time on the deserted island Jason had found during his travels. "We're friends and I want you two there."

"I think it's sweet," Steph said as she gathered up plates for the dishwasher.

"You would," Damian snapped at her.

That sent Steph and Damian off on an epic snark battle that carried them out of the kitchen and into the hallways where their voices echoed through the corridors long after they were out of sight. Clark and Bruce left next, along with Dick who looked as though he was curious but intended to tickle the story out of Tim at a later date.

"If you need anything further," Alfred said to them all, "do let me know."

"No, not really, Alfred," Temp said with a shy smile at him. "We just wanted to extend the invitation."

"Then I shall tender my congratulations to the both of you and go about my duties, Miss Temperance," Alfred said and smiled at them both. "Oh, do let your Alfred know that we have managed to make versions of the micro surgeons that were so helpful with Master Jason's injuries. They are quite helpful and very much appreciated."

He nodded and left them alone. Jay shook his head, wondering how the two Alfreds could be so similar when they came from such different worlds. It didn't really matter but he couldn't help wondering about it. No wonder it took so long for Jason to find his way home. Curiosity really was a hazard when traveling worlds.

"I suppose if we just attend the private party it will be okay," Tim said just loudly enough to startle Jay out of his admittedly rambling thoughts. "Attending the actual ceremony might not be wise."

"Can always observe it from the Cave," Jason offered. "You know, since it's happening at the Manor."

"That would work," Temp said happily enough that Jay thought that they had it worked out. "You two really did help us get here so…"

She shrugged and blushed, especially when Jason raised an eyebrow at Jay. Making a face and flipping him off wasn't exactly a good response but there was no way that Jay was going to admit that their interruption of Diana's wedding and the sex that the four of them had had on the island was what had finally pushed him over the edge into admitting that he wanted something more than their private relationship. Jason would never let him hear the end of it, though from the look on his face he wasn't going to let lack of information keep him from teasing them anyway.

"We'll be there," Tim promised Temp as he glared over his shoulder at Jason. "Thank you."

"Thank you!" Temp gasped, hugging Tim hard enough to earn a wince.

The next few days passed in a whirl of preparations and rapidly rising nervousness for Jay. It was stupid as all hell but he couldn't help filling his head with all sorts of nightmare scenarios of what could happen at the wedding. When he progressed from tripping and destroying his suit up to Darkseid invading and blowing everyone up just before they could say their vows, Jay strapped on his blocker bracelet and belt and went to find Jason.

"Freaking out?" Jason asked when Jay appeared in the cave. He didn't look surprised.

"It's tomorrow morning," Jay said, acutely aware of how badly his hands were shaking. "I'm… this is…"

"Freaking out," Jason chuckled. "Come on. Let's get you calmed down."

He strapped on his belt and left a note for his Tim before taking Jay off to a 'verse that was like WWII come again. They ended up in a little diner where the waitress did a double-take at seeing the two of them.

"The hell, Sarge?" the waitress said while staring at them with her hands on her hips. "I didn't know you were a twin."

"He's my brother, not my twin, Sally," Jason laughed. "He's also getting married tomorrow morning and I'm terrified of his fiancé so I'm not letting him get drunk to deal with the jitters."

"Good for you, Sarge," Sally said with a nod as if that was exactly the right thing to do. "Grab a seat and I'll bring you two some food."

"Thanks," Jason said, dragging Jay to one of the back booths.

"Um…" Jay said and then stared as Sally showed up with coffee, two huge platters of enough food to founder them both. "Wow."

"Best food ever," Jason said. "Eat up. It's on my dime."

Sally patted Jay's head before bustling off to take care of some other patrons. The food was as good as it looked and by the time he managed to finish his plate plus two cups of coffee he felt better. Not totally calm but better than he had when he'd gone and found Jason. Once he'd pushed the empty plate away, which prompted Sally to come and refill their coffee before taking the plates away, Jay sighed.

"Better?" Jason asked.

"Yeah," Jay said. "How the heck did you know this would work?"

"I know you," Jason laughed.

They exchanged looks that were halfway to telepathy and then laughed together. Jay supposed that was why he'd sought his twin out when he'd been at his wit's end. Jason let him sit and sip his coffee in peace. By the time they left Jay thought he might actually make it through the wedding without going completely insane.

Jason delivered Jay back home, snickering at Temp's irritation, and then Alfred was there to wind them both back up with last minute details of the wedding. He couldn't be quite as uptight about it all with a full belly, which seemed to help keep Temp from snapping everyone's heads off too. Sleep was utterly impossible that night. Jay patrolled despite everyone threatening him with destruction if he got hurt. When it was time to get into his tux, Jason and Tim were both there.

"Shouldn't you be helping Temp?" Jay asked Tim.

"She threatened to castrate me if I didn't leave," Tim said so calmly that Jay looked at Jason who shrugged and nodded that it was true. "Since Steph and Cassie were both there with similar expressions I thought it was wiser to leave and come here."

"Wow, maybe you should have stolen her for a while," Jay said to Jason.

"Wouldn't work," Jason replied. "She'd have refused to eat in case she gained too much weight to wear her wedding dress."

"Point," Jay said and nodded.

They'd efficiently maneuvered Jay into his tux while they talked. Tim was entirely too good at dealing with bow ties so both Jay and Jason let him take care of it. When it was tied to Tim's satisfaction, Jay looked at himself in the mirror. It didn't look like him. The reflection showed someone far too cultured for a poor boy from the wrong side of town, but Jay always felt that way when he had to put on a tux.

"Go on," Jason told Jay. "We'll be down in the cave, watching. Try not to trip or forget your vows."

Dick showed up just in time to see Jason and Tim use their belts to disappear down to the Cave. He grinned and then hauled Jay down to the ballroom where everyone was waiting for them. The minute he saw everyone watching him walk up the aisle to the altar Jay's brain seemed to stutter to a stop. He could hear people talking around him and knew that it was finally happening but he'd be damned if he had any idea what anyone was saying.

Music swelled; something grand and majestic that Temp had argued for and won against pretty much everyone. Jay had no idea what it was now. He couldn't even follow the tune of it because of the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears. After one attempt to swallow failed because his whole mouth was dry as bone, Jay wasn't sure that his knees were going to hold him up.

All the fear drained away as Temp appeared on Bruce's arm. Her expression was as grim as any he'd seen on her face in combat. That more than anything else calmed him down. Everything faded away to a distant murmur as Jay watched Temp walk slowly up the aisle. She hugged Bruce before taking Jay's hand. Her fingers shook.

They turned back to the priest and time did strange things again. There was talking and then he stumbled through his vows while Temp's lips twitched with amusement. Her vows were white noise up just like everything else around him, until the priest held up his hands and grinned at them.

"You may now kiss your spouse," the priest announced.

Jay reached out, noting that his hands were visibly shaking, and carefully pulled Temp's veil over her head. She was obviously fighting a grin but she went up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss against his lips that made Jay's brain skip another beat.

"You going to pass out?" Temp whispered.

"Maybe?" Jay whispered back. "You?"

"I just want this over with," Temp sighed.

Jay nodded. The rest of the party seemed to last forever. They had to shake a million hands, listen to at least a billion people say the exact same words of congratulations. After that there was a brunch for what seemed like every single hero in the world, with wedding cake and breakfast food that didn't hold a candle to the food at the WWII 'verse diner, and lots of jokes from Dick, Roy and Steph about the wedding night.

Eventually they got to escape. Temp and he changed into regular clothes and they snuck down to the Cave where Jason and Tim were cuddled together by the monitors. Jason grinned at Jay with a look that implied that he knew there was no way that Jay would ever remember what had happened today. Tim smiled happily at Temp, pulling her into a hug that included Temp clinging to him.

"Head off to the deserted island for your honeymoon," Jason advised. "No chance of the reporters following you and no chance of getting called for helping with a disaster."

"Not a bad thought," Jay said, "but we've got plans already."

"If they fall through though," Jason replied with a gesture that reinforced the offer.

"Will do." Jay sighed. "Thanks for coming."

"No problem, man," Jason said, patting Jay on the shoulder. "You guys stood by me when I needed you. I'm glad that I could be here for you on your big day. Go on, take care of your wife."

Jay smiled and turned back to Tim and Temp. She was blushing at him as if she'd just realized that it was true. They really did belong to each other now. When he pulled her in for a hug, Temp clung to him too. Come what may, and Jay was sure that all sorts of crap would inevitably descend on them, they belonged together and everyone knew it now.

+++++

"Looking forward to patrol tonight?" Jason asked as he and Tim headed back upstairs after brunch with the others. "You're finally clear for it."

"Actually," Tim said in that thoughtful, determined voice that always made Damian twitch in anticipation of a fight that wasn't really a fight anymore, "I want to take a vacation."

Jason stumbled on the last step which made Tim's cheeks go red. He shifted his shoulders in a motion that was probably intended to be a casual shrug but which came out more like Tim worrying about someone putting a knife between his shoulder blades. The thing of it was that Jason could see taking a vacation. They'd been beaten up and half killed so many times in the last few months that they sort of deserved it.

"Island?" Jason asked.

"Um, I was thinking exploring, actually," Tim admitted with his briefest smile. "I know there are worlds you wanted to go back to and there are a couple that I'd like to see again too."

"We coming back each night or what?" Jason asked as they entered Jason's room.

Tim immediately grabbed his belt off Jason's desk to hold it in his hands as he thought about it. "I'd prefer to sleep at home, but I doubt we'd get any real peace if we did. How about sleeping at the island and then coming back for New Years? We can always leave again for a little while after New Year's."

Jason chuckled and grabbed his gauntlet. Clamping it back onto his arm felt like coming home, strangely enough. Even if this was home, he'd gotten way too fucking used to wearing the thing to feel completely comfortable when it was off. Tim got a similar expression when he put on his smaller and lighter version of the gauntlet.

"Merry Christmas," Jason said and laughed at the sour expression Tim directed at him. "What? It is your Christmas present, along with the new belt. And it's even Christmas Day, too. Still surprised I got them all done in time for Christmas with everything that's been going on."

"No, my Christmas present will be a new and improved suit that does _not_ have the power pack sitting directly on my tail bone," Tim replied so dryly that Jason snickered. "Are we telling them before we go?"

"Yeah, be better if we did," Jason said. "You know Damian'll freak if we up and disappear on him. Meaning if you disappear, Timmy."

"He likes you better," Tim pretended to complain, apparently to distract from the blush creeping over his cheeks.

"Keep telling yourself that," Jason laughed and then dodged the strike Tim aimed at his solar plexus.

They ended up in similar outfits, both in dark pants and shirts with leather jackets. Jason's jacket was the same armored one that he'd worn on the way home while Tim's was the leather duster that he wore before his previous costume was finished. It was armored around the shoulders and back and flapped nicely as they headed downstairs together.

"We're taking a vacation," Tim announced as soon as they walked into the Cave where Bruce and Damian were training with Dick and Steph. "Nothing serious, just some exploring."

"You will not be patrolling tonight?" Damian asked as if that was a tragedy. He immediately tried to look as though he was delighted by that thought.

"Probably not," Tim said. "We'll be sleeping on the island or maybe coming back here. Not sure yet."

"There are a few worlds I wanted to go back and check on," Jason agreed while grinning at Bruce's frown and Dick's concern. "Need to check on the Robins and get some more gear from the Steampunk 'verse. Maybe check on the vampire Tim. Still kind of worried about him. That was a seriously fucked up world. Like to see if we can fix things a bit since my fucking double screwed them up so bad."

Bruce laughed one of his ghost laughs. It blossomed into a real laugh as Clark sped in and abruptly hugged Tim and then Jason as if he was afraid that it was the last chance to hug them ever. Tim laughed and patted Clark's back. Clark clung to Jason for a long moment.

"Awww, cut it out," Jason grumbled once Clark let him go. "Not like I haven't traveled three quarters of the damn multiverse by now. We'll be careful and the emergency systems are way better than they used to be."

"Be careful anyway," Bruce ordered.

"We will be," Tim promised. "And we'll check back frequently so that you know we're all right. I just… want a bit of a break before I go back to patrolling."

That got them nods, Steph hugs and a very brief argument between Damian and Tim that pretended to be vicious but which were actually freaking adorable on both sides. Jason transferred them straight to the island once the goodbyes were done. He immediately started sweating while Tim glared at him.

"I wanted to check on the food and laundry situation first," Jason protested.

"You wanted to see if Jay and Temp were here for their honeymoon," Tim countered and then smirked when Jason coughed and grinned at him. "Come on, where first? Vampire Tim?"

"Um, yeah," Jason said. "Make sure that your shield is on full though. He's seriously terrifying and the vampire mind-fuck thing is a killer. Almost literally first time I visited."

The last two times he'd been to the 'verse had been spooky as hell so Jason was on alert as they switched over to that world. He'd expected to see the lights off, darkness shrouding the dead bodies that the vampire version of Tim had left lying once he was done draining them of their blood. There should have been the smell of blood, death and a creeping sense of wrongness.

Instead, the Cave was brightly lit and so perfectly clean that it looked like Alfred had been in a bad mood and done that clean everything to within an inch of its life thing he did to calm down. There was a funeral home style crematory oven but it looked unused. To Jason's surprise there was even a wreath and little plaque in front of it.

"Okay, this I didn't expect," Jason said.

"Looks like things are okay," Tim said hesitantly enough that Jason knew he was a little creeped out. "Cold though."

"Tim?"

Dick's shocked exclamation made both of them whirl to face this 'verse's Dick. He looked at them both as though they were the best thing he'd ever seen. Roy was at his right shoulder, glaring at them as though they were threats. When Dick made as thought to run over and hug them both, Jason held up a hand.

"Sorry Dickie-bird," Jason said, "but we've got shields up. What happened to your Tim? Last I heard he was a vampire out to kill my version in this 'verse."

"You're… from the Multiverse?" Roy asked when Dick just gaped at them.

"Yeah," Jason said with a casual little shrug that reminded him to relax his shoulders before they knotted into solid steel. "Happened through here before. Your Tim was a vamp and he helped me defeat a duplicate of myself who'd stolen my place in the Multiverse. It's bad shit when that happens. Nearly destroyed everything everywhere."

"God, I can't believe…" Dick took a deep breath and shut his eyes. "He's dead. Your other self, our Tim. They're both dead."

Jason cursed as something wavered between them, forming into fucking ghosts of Tim, Jason, Bruce and Damian. Behind him, Tim whispered something that might have been a prayer but which was probably some sort of profanity that he'd picked up from Damian. As the ghosts solidified, the ghost Jason with his arm wrapped protectively around ghost Tim's shoulders Roy pulled Dick into his arms.

"Wow," Jason breathed. "You look a lot better, kiddo."

Ghost Tim mouthed something hopeful that looked like 'you won'?

"Yeah, I won," Jason said with a tender look at his Tim that made both Tim's blush. "Had a lot of motivation. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

'I'm dead,' ghost Tim mouthed with a wry enough expression that Jason grinned at him.

"Yeah, sure, you're dead," Jason said, "but you're not alone and it looks like Dickie-bird's taking care of the shop pretty well. Looks like setting things right in my world set things right here, too. I'm glad."

Ghost Jason raised an eyebrow and looked at Tim and Jason. From his expression he was wondering if the two of them were together. Jason nodded and pulled Tim into a one-armed hug that made him laugh the mouse-sneezing laugh that he always used when he was trying to be serious and couldn't quite manage it.

Somehow, that seemed to make the ghosts start fading or maybe there was a time limit on how long they could stay visible. Either way, all of the ghosts faded. The last one to disappear was Bruce's ghost. He looked at Tim and Jason for a long moment and then turned to study Dick and Roy. Jason couldn't quite see what Bruce mouthed at them but whatever it was made Dick's breath catch in his chest and Roy go very pale.

"What?" Jason asked.

"Done well," Roy whispered. His words barely carried to Tim and Jason's ears. "He said that we've done well."

"Huh, I suppose hell must be freezing over," Jason said with just enough exaggerated surprise that it startled Dick into a real laugh. "Either that or your Bruce could actually communicate. Will wonders never cease?"

"They're… I still haven't found a way to let them move on," Dick admitted shakily. "No one has been able to release them yet."

"Dick," Tim said so gently that Jason stared at him. "Where else would they go? Gotham is their home and the Cave is their sanctuary. Bruce belongs here. Damian belongs with him. And Tim and Jason belong together, with their family. Stop worrying about sending them onwards. Focus on making them proud. Prouder. You don't need to do anything else but take care of their city and make the world a better place."

That seemed to hit Dick like a knife in the gut. He groaned and bit his lip against the tears that welled up in his eyes. After a moment Dick laughed and pointed at the two of them.

"I want a hug," Dick declared. "I never got to hug Tim or Jason before they died so just… drop those shields so I can get a hug, damn it!"

Tim laughed quietly and did so Jason followed suit a moment later. Dick's hug was so tight that it actually hurt Jason's ribs. When he let go so that he could hug Tim, Jason caught Dick's shoulder. Dick stared back at him as if he expected to either be bitten or for Jason to fade away.

"They looked happy to me, Dick," Jason murmured. "Seriously, you're doing good."

That got Jason another hug that made his ribs creak and an approving look from both Roy and Tim. He'd intended to spend as little time in this particular 'verse as possible but maybe they could spend a little while, a few hours or so, to help Dick and Roy deal with what had happened. Jason patted Dick's back. It might be good for them to talk about it all and it wasn't like Jason had no curiosity about how vampire Tim had finally died.

"So what did happen?" Tim asked which proved that he had to have gotten freaky mind powers of his own sometime. "Jason told me a little about this 'verse but not much."

"It's kind of a long story," Roy said while rubbing Dick's back and grinning at Jason's mock-annoyed huff at the continued hug.

"We have time," Tim said. "As much time as it takes."

+++++

"Truly? Pregnant?" Tam breathed as Tim stewed and Jason looked like he wanted someone to kill him.

"Unfortunately," Steph sighed. "I only just figured it out. Roy is quite distraught about it but with the engagement to Jason there isn't much to do other than have the wedding right away."

"Oh, you poor thing!" Tam said as she hugged Steph and patted her back. "I know you wanted to jilt Jason soon. Perhaps you and Jason can get married and then divorce after your child is born. Then you should be free to remarry as you please. Your parents won't have any authority over you at that point, right? I know Roy won't mind another child, especially since it's his. It is his, right? I can't imagine that Jason actually fathered the child, much less Tim."

A choked sound came from Tim and Jason's side of the room, probably from Tim though Jason was so red in the face that he might be the one responsible. Both Tam and Steph looked at them with an eyebrow raised. Jason sighed and waved one hand as if he was trying to figure out what to say. Tim beat him to it.

"It's rather strange to listen to a conversation about us when we're right here," Tim said. The words trailed down to a squeak by the end of the sentence.

"And you don't do the same thing about us?" Steph said just archly enough to make the boys wince. She grinned. "You could join the conversation, you know."

Steph wrapped her arms around Tam's neck while leaning into her side for a hug that made both of the boys shiver. Jason even licked his lips. A few months ago, Tam would have had absolutely no idea why they reacted that way but months of pointedly ignoring Tim and Jason's not so secret relationship had taught her something about the joys of one's own sex.

Of course, Steph had taught her just as much on those nights when they pretended to be having tea so that the boys could spend time together or go off and work on Lord Bruce's 'Mission'. Tam rather thought that Steph's kisses were sweeter than any man's could be but she completely understood not wanting to be disgraced by having an illegitimate child. And she did truly love Roy. That showed.

"But if I jilt Jason," Steph said huskily enough against Tam's neck to make Jason and Tim both shudder with arousal, "then I won't get to see you anymore, Tam."

"Oh we can't have that," Tam said with a just barely suppressed giggle at the wild look in Tim's eyes.

"We'll just… go see if the buffet is ready," Tim gulped.

"Yeah, you know, make sure all the guests are ready for the rehearsal and… stuff," Jason agreed with a nearly identical wild look.

They all but ran from the room which prompted Tam into a fit of giggles that set Steph to laughing until she had tears in her eyes. Tam wrapped her arms around Steph's shoulders, comforting her as the tears of laughter turned into much sadder tears. She couldn't help but be immensely grateful that Tim had been a perfect gentleman during their engagement. The one kiss that she'd gotten had been sweet but nothing to inspire thoughts of heading to the bedroom.

"I love him," Steph sighed.

"Roy?"

"Yes," Steph replied so sadly that Tam kissed her forehead. "It hurts that this stupid mission is getting the way of our getting together."

"It's sad but truly," Tam said while rubbing Steph's back, "it's better this way. Your parents would never have allowed you to marry Roy. Lord Bruce approves of him and once you divorce Jason it shouldn't be an issue for you to remarry with Roy."

"You're so practical about this," Steph complained though she smiled apologetically as she pulled away.

"I know," Tam said and shrugged. "I can't help it. I think it's part of why Tim and I work so well together."

Steph started laughing again, the earthy laugh that made Tam grin. The image of Jason and Tim's identical wild looks started Tam giggling. Their respective amusement lasted through repairing Steph's face from the ravages of her tears, fixing both of their dresses so that they looked properly respectable again, and all the way down to the entryway where Tim and Jason had changed into strange outfits that were so far from proper that Steph whistled at them.

"What are you wearing?" Tam gasped as she hurried down the stairs to Tim's side. "Tim! You can't… That's leather! It's all but a dress!"

Tim stared at her as if he'd never seen her before, while Jason grinned at Tam and then nudged Tim with his elbow. His hair had a bright streak of white in it that didn't look painted. The strangeness of the two of them was only just sinking into Tam's mind as Steph caught Tam's shoulders and dragged her back to the base of the stairs.

"Who are you?" Steph asked in a growling voice that was more like Lord Bruce in a temper than her normal voice.

"Nobody at all," the fake Jason said while holding up his hands. "Just came to check in and see how Tim and Jason were doing."

"Are you pregnant?" the fake Tim asked Steph while staring pointedly at her belly. The bulge was just visible through the thin white muslin of her rehearsal dress.

"Shhh!" Tam and Steph both hissed at him.

"Oh. Oh!" the fake Tim said, his eyes going wide. "Oh wow. Um, maybe we should just go."

"Really?" the fake Jason asked. "You were so curious earlier."

"Stephanie and Tam have more important things to worry about than us," the fake Tim said in that ferocious tone that the real Tim used whenever Jason was being a complete lummox. "If I'm not mistaken there's a wedding or rehearsal they should be attending."

The fake Jason blinked at him, turned to Stephanie and took in her dress, the just barely visible belly bulge, looked around the room and then winced as if he'd only just realized how desperately inappropriate it was for Steph to be with child without a ring on her finger. He rubbed the back of his neck and then chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," the fake Jason said.

"Sorry for interrupting your evening," the fake Tim told Tam and Steph. His expression and tone brought to mind the real Tim when he was thinking thoughts of immanent destruction on Jason for some new moment of stupidity. "We'll just be going now. Congratulations and felicitations."

"Felicitations?" the fake Jason said while blatantly taking the fake Tim's hand. "Who says that?"

Tim's answer was swallowed as the two of them disappeared in a discreet shower of light accompanied by a tinkling sound that brought to mind tiny cymbals and bells. Steph stared at the spot where they'd been standing for a long moment. When she turned back to Tam all Tam could do was shrug. She had no idea what that had been about.

"Every Tim and Jason are inappropriately attached?" Tam offered helplessly.

"They're so lucky that we get along," Steph sighed. "Otherwise I might have to go punch Jason in the nose for playing tricks on us. Come on. We might as well go in. I'm not actually showing, am I?"

"Mmm, maybe a little bit?" Tam said and then ducked as Steph swiped her handbag at Tam's shoulder. "You asked!"

"It's a good thing that wedding is tomorrow," Steph huffed.

They headed into the largest dining room, Tam's arm looped through Steph's elbow in just the right way for Steph's handbag to cover her belly. It looked completely natural though Tim and Jason both immediately got that wild-eyed look again. Tam giggled and leaned close to Steph's ear.

"Do you think that Jason will invite us on the honeymoon?" Tam whispered and then laughed as Steph squealed and poked her side.

"You're awful," Steph said with her wickedest grin. "But of course you're invited, both you and Tim. I couldn't go on such an _adventure_ without you."

They headed over to join Tim and Jason who were doing a lovely job of looking either panicked or so love-struck that they were struck dumb. Tam wondered if they should mention the fake Jason and Tim when they were alone later in the evening. She didn't think so. It was far too unbelievable.

+++++

"That was a little weird," Tim commented as they materialized in a new 'verse.

"No kidding," Jason agreed. He smirked at Tim and wagged his eyebrows. "Kind of think that that Tam and Steph were closer than just friends though. They were walking kind of close before they spotted us."

"I am not speculating on their sex lives," Tim said in his best Firebird snarl though he doubted that it was very effective given how ferociously he was blushing.

"Mmm, still a nice thought," Jason said. He licked his lips and then laughed when Tim elbowed him sharply.

The 'verse they'd landed in looked completely normal. The city around them was just passing the pink and purple stage of dawn and heading into that rising golden light stage that made even Gotham look beautiful. It looked like Gotham to Tim too, with the standard gothic architecture and rain-stained brick that turned gray when the sun hit it.

"Apartments?" Tim asked after they'd walked a block.

"Looks like it," Jason said. He checked his gauntlet and nodded. "Must be. Our doubles and Damian's are up ahead."

"Do we want to interact with them?" Tim asked. "There's really no need, is there?"

Jason looked at Tim sidelong with an amused smirk that automatically raised Tim's hackles. He grinned and nudged Tim with his elbow. "You don't want to see how this Damian's doing? I'm shocked."

"Ha. Ha."

Anything further that Tim had to say was cut off by a teenaged Damian stomping out of the building entrance in front of them. He pulled up his hood and then stopped in his tracks when he saw Jason and Tim in front of him. The expression on his face slid from surprised to furious in less than a second. Tim automatically braced himself for the explosion that he knew was coming.

"I do not care what you say," Damian snapped at them. "You can disapprove and forbid my going to the concert with Colin but I am still going."

"And where is this concert?" Jason asked as if he had every right to ask. His tone was just provocative enough that Damian flushed.

Damian's shoulders hunched and the glare stepped up to the 'look out for knives aimed for your spleen' level that always promised havoc back home. "You know where it is. You already stated your opinion on the matter. In detail. _Dad._ "

Tim's world wobbled at the thought that they might be Damian's parents in this 'verse. He shook that off as Jason cocked his head at Damian entirely too calmly.

"You're not gonna piss me off by calling me 'Dad', kiddo," Jason said and then chuckled. "Though if you call Tim 'Mom' you better run."

"You wouldn't dare," Tim hissed and then glared when Damian snickered in spite of his anger.

Both of them smirked at him which made Tim want to puff up like an angry cat. He pushed it down, remembering his Damian and how much the attitude he always displayed hid his inner feelings. One deep breath later, Tim was able to let the anger go though he did smack Jason's arm hard enough to make him pout and rub the sore spot.

"Are there other places you could go with Colin?" Tim asked Damian in his 'I'm being reasonable even when I want to yell' voice that made his Damian wince and go formally polite.

It worked here too. Damian drew himself up and clenched his fists as though he was resisting the urge to knife both of them and run. "He wants to go to that concert, not something else."

"And if you _asked_ would he change his mind?" Tim said just insistently enough that he kept an eye on Damian's hands for that flick of wrist that would make weapons appear out of thin air.

Damian's cheeks went red and he didn't answer, which Tim thought was answer enough to his question. Jason chucked and came over to rub the hoodie over the top of Damian's slightly bowed head, which predictably made him bristle like a wet cat. As Damian batted Jason's hand away Tim sighed and shook his head at the two of them.

"You know that you shouldn't go," Tim said and smiled as Damian went still again. "Does Colin know?"

"Must you always ask questions like that?" Damian snarled even though his heart obviously wasn't in it. He looked so much like their eleven year old Damian that Tim chuckled. Damian deflated a little more and shrugged. "No. I have not told him."

"Then tell him," Tim suggested just gently enough that he expected that Damian would bristle again.

Instead he got a surprise hug from Damian that Tim returned gingerly while Jason grinned at him. Damian went stiff after a moment and stepped back to stare at Tim's torso. Then he studied Tim's face and turned to stare at Jason who raised one eyebrow.

"You are not my fathers," Damian hissed as the weapons appeared in his hands.

"True," Jason said, "but we've got a Damian of our own so we know how it goes, kiddo. 'Sides, are we wrong?"

"Multiverse," Tim commented when Damian only bristled more. "We were actually fleeing from a pregnant Steph who appears to be involved with Tam in a 'verse that's sort of like the Regency period. Tam and Steph are a pretty intimidating team."

The knives drooped as Damian stared at him. After a moment the weapons disappeared and he studied Tim again. He shook his head and set his shoulders as if he'd decided to pretend that their conversation never happened. Tim chuckled and cautiously touched Damian's elbow.

"Just tell Colin," Tim told him. "If your Colin is anything like our Damian's Colin he'll be horrified that you might get in trouble."

"He is not 'my' Colin," Damian said and this time he went so red that his ears had to be blushing under the hoodie.

"Call him 'your' Colin to his face and he'll probably follow you to the ends of the earth," Jason laughed. He fished through his pockets and passed Damian a small pack of condoms. "Just be careful, okay kiddo? You know how your 'Mom' will react if you aren't."

"You did not just call me that!" Tim snarled at Jason.

Damian took the condoms and tucked them into his pocket but he was laughing at them both instead of looking angry or defiant. Jason dodged a half-speed punch and caught Tim's wrist to pull him in for a quick kiss that made Damian groan.

"I do not need to see this," Damian sighed. "In fact, I did not see any of this."

He walked away as Jason triggered his belt and took them to a neighboring 'verse that looked to be about an hour before dawn. Tim grumbled at Jason but the lingering kiss that followed calmed him down enough that he didn't immediately punch Jason when he finally let go.

"Condoms?" Tim asked.

"Hey, he's a teen and he's involved with Colin," Jason said as he casually shrugged and then resettled his jacket. "Besides, getting something solid to keep will help him… remember and take the advice a bit more seriously."

"No wonder it took you years to get home," Tim sighed. "You had to fix things in every single 'verse you encountered."

"Can you blame me?" Jason asked as he checked his gauntlet and pointed down the street.

"No," Tim answered as excitement at what they might see rose in his heart. Who knew how this 'verse differed from home? "I really can't."

+++++

"I don't know, Tim," Kon said miserably. "He's just not gonna accept me."

"I know," Tim whispered as he twined his fingers into Kon's.

The Cave was cold and quiet. Kon could swear that the bats overhead were glaring at him. It was like they all had little Batman glares, each and every one directed at him. In the year or so since the deserted island weirdness, Tim and Kon had done their best to get together but Batman hated Kon and kept interfering.

It'd gotten to the point that Kon was about ready to give up. As much as he loved Tim, and he really, really, really did, it hurt too much to see Tim wincing every time Batman looked at him. Unless Tim stopped being Robin which Kon thought was totally whack, he had to live with Batman and that just sucked when Batman was glaring and brooding and making those nasty comments that Kon wasn't supposed to admit that he'd overheard. Stupid hearing was tuned into Tim though so he did hear it and it hurt, especially when he heard Tim suppress a little gasp of pain or wince or clench his fists and then sigh as if he just didn't have the strength to fight anymore.

They both were getting worn down by it all. Didn't help that stupid Dick had sided with Batman. Even Clark had advised Kon to back off. It wasn't like Clark had ever managed to get on Batman's good side. Kon was kind of convinced that Batman didn't have a good side. He was just grouchy and broody and mean all the time.

"I mean, we can still be friends, Titans," Kon offered even though it tore his heart out to say the words. "Y-you're not quitting the team or anything."

"No, I'm not," Tim said.

He scooted closer and that was all it took for Kon's will power to break. Tim whimpered when Kon swept him up into his arms. The hug had to be hurting Tim but he didn't say a word, just clung to Kon as if he never wanted to let go. Kon sure as heck didn't want to let go. No matter how much Batman punished Tim for falling for a meta, no matter how cruel he was, Kon didn't want to let Tim go but…

A shimmering sound and a discreet flash of light went off to their left. Tim and Kon both jerked as another, much older, Tim fell out of the air and landed flat on his back. Next to him the older guy with black hair that had a white streak landed a little bit more gracefully though he nearly face planted. The older guy started laughing as if he'd just seen the funniest thing ever while the older Tim snarled.

"Fluffy?" the older Tim snarled breathlessly. "Fluffy _bunny ears?_ With a cotton tail?"

"Oh my god!" the other guy gasped. "Wolf ears!"

He howled with laughter and just lay there on the floor clutching his stomach he was laughing so hard.

"Why the hell did I have fluffy bunny ears?" the older Tim demanded. "I am not any sort of bunny!"

"Dick!" the other guy squeaked and laughed some more. "Did you see Dick? Holy shit, he's gonna die of embarrassment!"

Kon looked at his Tim and found a stunned, confused expression on his face that matched the one that had to be plastered all over Kon's. They exchanged a long look, turned back to the strangers and then Kon frowned. There was something about that guy with the white streak that he thought he should know.

"Who is he?" Kon asked Tim. "It's driving me nuts."

"He's Jason Todd, the second Robin," Tim explained and then stilled as both the other Tim and Jason looked at them. "He died. The Joker killed him in Ethiopia."

"Hey there, guys," Jason said. He didn't sit up, just tipped his head so that he could stare at them upside down while grinning. "Sorry to drop in on you but you know how things go. Heh, Dick's so gonna kill me. I wonder if I got that shot."

The other Tim sighed and booted Jason in the hip exactly the way Kon's Tim sometimes did when Kon was being a complete doofus. Kon grinned, studying the other Tim and then grinning at his Tim who raised an eyebrow and glared as if he knew what Kon was going to say. Which he probably did given Tim's spooky Robin mind-reading through perfect knowledge of body language powers, not that it too much to figure out what was on Kon's mind most of the time.

"That's what you're going to look like when you're older!" Kon exclaimed. "Cool!"

"Kon…" Tim groaned and upped the glare to immanent death by Tim-eyes.

"Ha!" Jason shouted. He sat up and touched something on the wrist on his gauntlet.

A holographic projection appeared closer to the stairs to the Manor. A group of people who looked a heck of a lot like Tim and Bruce and Jason appeared. The Tim in the projection had fluffy bunny ears that were pale pink. He turned and looked over his shoulder, giving them a glimpse of a pink bunny tail on his butt. Kon choked as about ten billion brand new sexual fantasies rampaged through his mind. It couldn't be that hard to find white hot pants and attack a fluffy bunny tail to them though getting Tim to put on the ears might be tough.

The bunny-eared Tim gasped and leaped from the cloud he'd been on to another one farther away. They saw why almost immediately as a Jason with wolf ears, a wolf tail and a huge horny grin appeared. He went after the bunny-Tim and then they caught a quick glimpse of Dick. Kon clapped his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"He has stripes?" Kon's Tim asked.

"Are those whiskers?" Jason's Tim asked in the exact same 'I can't believe I'm seeing this voice'.

"He's the fucking Cheshire cat!" Jason howled and dissolved into helpless laughter again.

Kon lasted all of about one second before he joined Jason in laughing himself sick. While Tim was sexy and adorable as a bunny Dick as a kitty was way too cute to be threatening. Both Tim's sighed, exchanging that sort of 'why do I put up with him?' look that Kon's Tim frequently gave Cassie whenever Kon was being stupid.

"What is going on down here?"

Batman's growl was extra growly. Kon straightened up and tried to stop snickering because come on; this was Tim's effective dad. His real dad was worse in some ways but Tim looked up to Batman for everything that counted. On the other hand, Jason kept on laughing. Eventually he sat up and grinned at Batman.

"Hey B," Jason said, waving one hand casually, just like he had the last time they'd popped through the cave.

"Batman," Jason's Tim said and nodded calmly at him. "Will you please get up off of the floor, Jason?"

"Who are you and what do you want?" Batman demanded. He had Batarangs in his hands and from the glare fully intended to use them on the other Tim and Jason.

"We're exactly who we look like," Jason's Tim said way too calmly. "And we're here because it's hard to aim the transfer mechanism when you're falling from a cloud and either horrified or laughing."

He offered a hand to Jason who took it and rolled back to his feet. Jason shrugged his jacket into a more comfortable position, still grinning at Batman. Their attitudes seemed to make his anger worse. Tim eased in front of Kon and then glared when Kon pulled him back and made Tim stay behind him.

"Don't bother, B," Jason said. "Shields. They'll just bounce off and break something."

"What. Do. You. Want?" Batman snarled.

"Absolutely fucking nothing, B," Jason said. "Who shoved the bug up your butt anyway?"

"Jason," Jason's Tim sighed.

"Come on, he's acting like this is the end of the world," Jason complained. "I mean, what the fuck? Multiverse, dropped in before, saved Kon, dropped in again and he saw us. Now we dropped in a third time. So the fuck what? I'd think he'd be used to this shit. Hell, if Kon's coming through all the time he should have relaxed by now."

"I'm not allowed in the Cave except for special circumstances," Kon said in a miserable enough tone that Jason and Tim both stared at him and then turned to glare at Batman who raised his Batarangs as if to throw them.

Jason put his hands on his hips and glared right back at Batman while Tim shook his head and made that little tisk noise that always had Kon apologizing even when he had no freaking clue what he'd done. All it did was made Batman glare at them and then fix Kon with a glare as if it was all his fault, which he probably thought it was.

"B," Jason said, "quit being a paranoid pain in the fucking ass. For fuck's sake, Tim's not straight and he's gonna fall for someone. Better the Boy Scout's kid than someone like Slade or fucking Luthor."

"You didn't end up with Kon," Batman said to Jason's Tim.

"I didn't stay with him," Tim said and glared at Batman ferociously enough that he actually winced. "My Kon is bisexual but primarily interested in girls. He's with Cassie."

"Cassie is straight?" Kon and Tim said at once.

"Wow," Tim said, blinking at Kon and then at Jason's Tim. "I find that hard to imagine. She's so into Mia, Donna and Kory."

Jason waved his hands as if to make everyone stop talking. He was grinning the way Kon did whenever the girls had one of their 'girl nights' which always meant watching a chick flick, eating tons of ice cream and then having sex in the media room. Both Tim's sighed at him, which kind of made Kon feel better. Apparently Tim's had a type and the type was a swearing, kind of goofy horn-dog.

"Do they do orgies or anything?" Jason asked.

"Oh yeah," Kon said and grinned at Jason.

"No, there are no pictures of it," Kon's Tim sighed. "No, you aren't going to get recordings either. I made Bart, Kon and Gar delete them all and take the camera out after Cassie threatened to break our necks."

"Damn," Jason sighed.

Batman's glare had hit the immanent destruction by any means necessary level. "Tim would never get involved with Slade Wilson or Lex Luthor!"

Jason's Tim sighed and touched a gauntlet on his wrist, pulling up a statistical matrix that made Kon's eyes cross. His Tim made a curious little noise while Batman made a choked noise and looked horrified.

"Statistically speaking," Jason's Tim said in the 'lecture coming, shut off ears and nod a lot' voice, "My other versions are most likely to be involved with either dominant, controlling men, i.e. you, Slade Wilson, Lex Luthor or similar types, or idiots who swear a lot and act before thinking, i.e. Jason, Kon, Roy, etc. Of course, that's only the versions of me who are gay. The straight versions tend to fall for Steph, Tam or Barbara. Sometimes Cassandra. The bisexual versions show a marked preference for a polyamorous lifestyle that includes relationships with all of the above."

"What size of sample did you collect?" Kon's Tim asked. His fingers twitched like he wanted to be playing with the data which made Kon grin at him. Tim was so cute when he was being nerdy.

"The current sample size is over six thousand," Jason's Tim said. He was smiling like he completely understood Kon's Tim's reaction. "We're still working on it, of course. My goal is to get a sample size of over ten thousand universes but that will take some time. We only travel the multiverse when we go on vacation."

Batman made a noise that sounded somewhere between a growl and a duck being strangled. The Batarangs disappeared into his belt. He swallowed so audibly that Kon thought that anyone could have heard it. It was hard to tell with the cowl but Kon thought that Batman was staring at Jason's Tim.

"I would never…" Batman said and then trailed off as Jason raised an eyebrow at him and smirked and Jason's Tim snorted at him.

"Please," Jason's Tim said. "Why else are you being so overprotective? You don't feel that Kon is good enough for Tim so you're trying to drive him away. It's an effort to preserve him so that you can have him when he's older. I dealt with it with my Bruce, briefly, as did every single Dick I've ever spoken to."

"Won't work, you know," Jason said. "Tim's are nothing if not obsessive. Every freaking one I ever met has been obsessive, worse than any Bruce. Your Tim chose Kon. It's not a bad choice since I'm dead here. Quit being a fucking pain in the ass."

"He could do much worse," Jason's Tim said and then went so sad that Jason put a hand on his shoulder. "Bear in mind that suicide, insanity and drug addictions are problems for all versions of us. One version of me ran away from home and became a street whore. Several that we've seen committed suicide, mostly by proxy, and all of us have to watch for training ourselves to death."

Batman shut his eyes for a long moment and went to sit at the computer console. It was the closest he'd ever gotten to Kon, which seemed like something terribly significant. Kon held his breath, afraid to do something that would mess up whatever mind-fuck Jason and Jason's Tim had going. It might not actually be a mind-fuck but Batman sure seemed to be reacting that way.

"I would not want…" Batman murmured.

"Doesn't matter what you want, B," Jason said entirely too gently. "Matters what Tim wants. Falling in love with Kon isn't gonna make him stop being Robin. Isn't gonna make him leave. The only thing that'll make Tim leave is you being a fucking ass and trying to tear them apart."

Kon realized that his Tim was holding his breath too. The whole freaking world seemed to be holding its breath as Batman stared at Jason and his Tim. Jason's Tim walked over to the console and did something to download his statistical chart along with what looked to Kon like a flood of data. He smiled at the monitors, patted Batman's shoulder fondly and walked back to Jason's side.

"We should be going," Jason's Tim said.

"Can always come back and check in a few months or so," Jason agreed. "Get your head out of your ass, B. How much you wanna bet that Dick's still waiting to come home?"

Batman jerked and stared at Jason. The eyes narrowed when Jason smirked at him. Kon sort of expected Batman to fling a Batarang at him but after a moment of Batman's shoulders going tense he sort of slumped and grunted deep in his throat.

"Leave."

"Gone," Jason said. "Don't let him bully you, guys."

"Hit him until he stops thinking too hard and listens," Jason's Tim agreed. He rolled his eyes when Jason turned and stared at him. "What? It works."

They disappeared in another shimmer of light and little bells. Kon stared at the spot they'd been and then turned to Tim who looked like he couldn't believe that they'd been there in the first place. Even though it was probably a stupid thing to say, Kon couldn't resist putting on his cheesiest grin.

"Do you think I could talk you into wearing fluffy bunny ears and hot pants?" Kon asked.

"No!" Tim squawked. "Absolutely not!"

"Darn," Kon sighed and very deliberately didn't look at Batman. "Huh. I wonder if Dick would put on kitty ears and whiskers. He was kind of adorable as a tiger-striped cat. That big fluffy tail made me want to pet it."

The strangled noise that came from Batman was totally worth all the crap he'd put them through in the last few months. Kon did his best not to let his feeling of victory show even though he knew that both Tim and Batman saw straight through him. Heck, everyone saw straight through Kon. He was used to it by now.

Batman sighed and stared at the data on his computers. "I won't allow metas in Gotham."

"Will you allow my boyfriend to visit?" Tim asked and there was enough defiance in his tone that Kon and Batman both stared at him.

Silence stretched for long enough that Kon felt like it might never end. Batman's single nod earned him a tackle-hug from Tim and Kon whimpering in relief. He patted Tim's arms and did something complicated and Bat-y with his shoulders to end the hug. Tim grinned at him and then hugged Kon who decided he was never, ever, _ever_ going to let go.

"Go." Batman's dismissal for once didn't feel like 'get out of Gotham before I break out the kryptonite.'

Kon nodded and let Tim pull him towards the stairs. They were two steps up when Batman cleared his throat. It sort of looked like Batman might be blushing under his cowl when Kon turned around.

"Fluffy kitty tail?" Batman asked and his voice shook in a way that Batman's voice never did. Even Brucie's voice didn't quaver like that.

"Yup, like about a yard long and striped," Kon said. "Seriously, the fur looked to be as long as my hand and he was stark naked other than the gold and black striped fur over his entire body. He was cute as hell."

"I'm still not wearing bunny ears for you," Tim said so scathingly that Batman's lips twitched. "And certainly not a bunny tail."

"Awww, come on, Tim," Kon whined and deliberately didn't notice that Batman was chuckling. "You'd be so cute! And sexy. Sexy-cute. Best thing ever."

"If you ever want to get laid again you'll stop talking now, Kon," Tim said as he stomped up the stairs.

"But _Tim…_ " Kon whined and followed him without floating his way up.

They both grinned when Batman's laughter sounded through the Cave and up the stairs. Maybe they wouldn't have to break up after all.

+++++

"Do you really love me?"

Jason growled over his shoulder at Tim, letting his true self show through the Nightbird mask he wore for a moment. Blackwing looked back at him, even though the question was very much a Tim question. The night promised to go rainy soon but for now the clouds were holding off on dumping on them. It couldn't last too much longer. Hopefully they'd manage to take down the fucking drug dealers taking over this neighborhood before that happened.

"Got more important things to focus on than that," Jason snapped.

"True," Tim commented. "I was just wondering."

"You never just wonder," Jason complained and knew without looking that Tim was smirking at him. "So what the fuck's up?"

"Nothing."

This time Jason sighed. Just like Tim to have something on his mind and refuse to talk about it. The police radio cracked in Jason's ear, making him straighten up. Tim stiffened at the same time. They exchanged looks as the police chattered about cornering Nightbird and Blackwing four blocks over in a vacant lot, one of them commenting about the weird ass gauntlet that was keeping the bullets from hitting them while another asked about the weird new helmets they wore.

"Why are they here?" Jason snarled as they ran across rooftops and crossed the zip lines Tim had so conveniently set up months ago.

"I have no idea but I object to anyone else being called by my name," Tim said snippily enough that Jason had to fight back a grin. Grins and Nightbird did not go together, at least when no one was bleeding.

The mess when they hit the vacant lot was huge enough that Jason paused with Tim at his side to stare. Al was standing over JP's fallen body, firing fucking bolts of energy at the police attacking them. The pale blue bolts made the cops fall over, hopefully unconscious. The red ones made their patrol cars explode in balls of flame. There weren't a hell of a lot of patrol cars left and the cops looked like they wished that they'd ignored this call.

"Cut that shit out!" Jason shouted as he flung a 'N' at Al.

It bounced off of his shield, rebounded and stuck in the dirt of the vacant lot like a little signpost that Nightbird was there. Al stopped and turned to glare up at them. At least, Jason assumed it was a glare. The helmet he was wearing was intimidating as fuck and downright glared all on its own.

"Back off, Nightbird," Al growled in a voice that promised death and destruction if he so much as twitched.

"I like," Tim whispered behind Jason and nearly blew the whole show by making Jason laugh his ass off.

"You don't come in my goddamned city and start a war," Jason declared. "I don't care who the hell you are."

"They started it," Al growled and that voice had to be from a distorter. No fucking way could a human throat make sounds like that.

The cops still standing cringed and backed off, some of them offering up desperate prayers as Jason turned to growl at them. He swung down to the vacant lot and went to stand between Al and JP and the assembled cops. To his relief Tim stayed up on the rooftop, watching them all with enough amusement that his Blackwing persona seemed to have totally taken over.

"Uh, sorry, Nightbird," the highest ranking cop who was obviously a brand fucking new newbie said so nervously that Jason snorted.

"You fuckers gotta learn not to attack everything that moves," Jason sighed. "Sometimes you bite off more than you can chew, especially in this area."

He turned back to JP and Al, visibly dismissing the cops who started scrambling to gather up their (stunned, thank goodness) fallen men while calling in that it had all been a mistake. None of them tried to shoot Jason in the back, surprise surprise, but then Blackwing was watching to make sure that none of them got the chance to finish the move.

Al watched for a moment and then knelt down to check on JP. There was blood seeping from a puncture wound on his neck. Seeing his cousin / long-lost brother/ what-the-fuck-ever bleeding and unconscious that way was a little freaky, especially given the almost mythic qualities Tim tended to give him. When Jason came a few steps closer Al stiffened.

"You need help?" Jason asked even though he was pretty sure he knew what the answer was going to be.

"He'll be fine," Al said and the growl was down to something much less hostile. Maybe it wasn't actually a distorter. "We hit some… trouble and our shields went down. He took a blow to protect me. It's not lethal. He's asleep."

"Stupid," Jason commented and then chuckled as Al nodded.

"He knows perfectly well that I can defend myself," Al snarled and wow, that _had_ to be a distorter because there was just no fucking way a human throat could make that sort of snarl. It hurt Jason's ears just listening to it.

"Mmm, he's just stuck on you," Jason said and then laughed as the cops behind them whimpered. He looked over his shoulder at them and smirked. "Yeah, we know 'em. Yeah, they're way hell and gone more dangerous than Blackwing and I'll ever be. Yeah, you're fucking goddamned lucky to be alive."

"I promised him I wouldn't kill anymore," Al commented as if it was a real trial not to kill.

The cops scrambled to get the fuck away from them. From the set of Al's shoulders he was highly amused by their response despite being visibly worried about JP. The black and red helmet Al wore seemed to shift to a less threatening expression as JP groaned which if that actually had happened Jason wanted one of those damned helmets. Hell of a lot better protection than the Nightbird cowl.

"Stay still," Al growled at JP and that almost sounded like his real voice.

"Ow," JP said in loud and clear enough tones that Jason snickered at him. "That hurt. The fuck? Where are we?"

"You're in my city," Jason said. "Don't let yourself get knocked out again, you ass. Your boy there nearly started a goddamned war."

JP muttered something that was probably 'the fuck' as he sat up and leaned into Al's side. He let out an appreciate 'oh' that damned near stretched into a full sentence when he saw the burning cop cars, scrambling cops and general destruction in the area. The way JP chuckled made Al's helmet seem to glower and Jason snicker at the two of them.

"You used the disruptor," JP said with enough excitement that Jason groaned. "I hope you recorded everything. I wanna see how it worked."

"I can always blast something else," Al offered as he helped JP stand. He had to wrap JP's arm around his shoulders to hold him up because JP was as wobbly as a newborn kitten.

"Eh, not the same," JP said. "Action shots are much better."

"Get the fuck out of my city," Jason groaned at the two of them. "For fuck's sake."

The phoenix on JP's helmet damn near seemed to grin at him. They both looked as Tim swung down and sauntered over exactly like the slut he used to be. Al gave Tim the one-over, nodding once he was done.

"Not bad," Al said.

"That's your costume?" Tim asked.

"Oh no," Al said and his voice went so growly and menacing that Jason really wanted whatever sort of distorter he was using. "We're on vacation. This is definitely not my uniform."

"They'd piss their fucking pants if they saw his Firebird uniform," JP snickered. Those helmets really did have to flex somehow because Jason was certain JP was grinning. "Intimidating as all fuck."

"Mmm-hmm and that was the last time I let you pick our destinations on new locations," Al said. "I think that ranks up there with the tentacle 'verse."

JP's grumble was half petulant whine. Al touched something on his belt and the two of them disappeared in a tiny puff of black smoke that had the faintest hints of sulfur in it. Behind them the cops who remained stopped scrambling to leave. As much as Jason wanted to object to their not thinking he was the scariest damned thing in the world, he really couldn't mind all that much. Al's voice and the sheer destruction he unleashed justified their looking at Nightbird as almost safe.

"I think I want one of those disruptors," Tim said very much in Blackwing's voice.

"Like fuck you're getting one," Jason snarled and wished for the vocal distorter to make it come out even harsher.

Tim's eyes grinned at him behind the black mask obscuring his face. They both ignored the cops and went back up to the rooftops. Six muggings, two rapes and one attempted armed robbery later it was nearly dawn and the sun was turning the sky that muddy bronze that would be golden and beautiful in any other city.

"I would love one of those disruptors," Tim commented as they returned to base and nodded to the guys on guard duty.

Jason grunted and waited until they were in their bedroom stripping down. He caught Tim and slammed him against the wall once the masks were off. Tim glared at him, rightfully pissed off at Jason for doing that when he'd promised not to bruise Tim during anything sexual.

"You gonna tell me why you were asking if I really loved you?" Jason asked and smirked as Tim went flamingly, blazingly red.

"It was nothing," Tim snapped and tried to get free.

He wasn't tall enough, strong enough or vicious enough to manage it. Jason held on and kept his back firmly against the wall. Eventually Tim huffed and relaxed in Jason's hold though his eyes promised murder and mayhem, or at least new scars on Jason's hide, once Tim was free.

"Why?" Jason asked and let the tenderness out in his voice and expression.

"It's stupid," Tim said and _that_ was a voice Jason hardly ever heard.

That was the Tim who'd run away from home and become a whore rather than stay in a house where he wasn't loved or wanted. That was the hurt boy who desperately wanted someone to see him and love him despite all his flaws.

"Tell me anyway," Jason murmured. He couldn't help the smile curling his lips, even though he knew the scar transformed it from something tender into something intimidating as all fuck.

Tim quivered for a long moment, battling the scars that riddled his soul. "I just… was remembering them."

"JP and Al," Jason said and smiled as Tim looked away at the same time as he rested his fingertips in the center of Jason's chest. "You think he's stuck on Al, you don't pay much attention, baby."

"Don't call me that," Tim hissed.

"Mmm, but you're my baby boy, Timmy," Jason purred and smirked as Tim shivered. "You know I'll never deny you anything. Though you let yourself get hurt on patrol and I'll tear this whole fucking city to pieces."

"Worse than Al?" Tim asked and oh, that voice, that look, that way too fucking hesitant touch. Oh Tim. Poor beaten down, broken little boy.

"I mighta sworn not to kill anymore but I only did it for you, baby boy," Jason murmured against Tim's forehead. "They hurt you and I'll kill every fucking one of them. Don't care how fucking intimidating an assassin turned anti-hero Al is, I'll do things that'll make his hair turn white with fear. All for you. Everything is for you."

It seemed to be what Tim needed to hear. He damn near melted into Jason's grip, a little sob escaping those lips that could lie like the world depended on his ability to seem normal. Jason pulled him close and eased them both down to the floor, Tim in his lap, rocking Tim until the shaking and tears faded into an exhausted sigh.

Getting Tim out of the suit and into bed was something like wrestling with a drunken eel but Jason managed it. He didn't bother showering. When Tim needed a cuddle he needed a cuddle fucking bad. He had to restrain both Tim's hands and his feet before he'd let Jason hold him close. Took a long damn time before Tim's breathing evened out as if he was asleep and even longer than that before he actually did fall asleep. Soon as Tim was boneless in deep slumber Jason pulled off the restraints and held Tim tenderly.

"Course I love you, you idiot," Jason whispered into Tim's hair. "How the hell could I not love you? Just wish you'd believe me when I do say it."

He sighed, smiled into Tim's hair because he knew that when he woke up Tim would be up and doing something dangerous. Yeah, there was no way he could do anything but love Tim, his sexy, messed up genius boy. Loving Tim was the hardest damn thing he'd ever done but it was so fucking worth it.

Jason let sleep claim him, content in the knowledge that Tim did love him, even if he never could actually say the words without duress.

 

+++++

Despite having several clear targets tonight Tim had had far too many problems with the latest Robin, Damian. As a result, he'd had a horrid night's haul. The latest Robin was a horrible pest, though thankfully he didn't hit on Tim endlessly like all the other Robins had to date. He'd almost gotten used to the innuendo. Not getting it from Robin, even one as young as Damian, was odd after all this time. He froze as a flash of light and a shimmer of noise like tiny bells sounded on the rooftop over his head

"So where are we now?"

Tim jerked at hearing his own voice coming from someone else. He froze, unsure what was going on and waiting to hear more before he chose a path of action.

"It's close to home," Jason said and that made Tim jerk even harder despite his precarious perch. "In this 'verse you teamed up with Selina instead of becoming Robin."

"You cannot be serious," the other Tim said so flatly that Tim grinned up at the ledge.

"Quite," the other Jason said. "Check this out."

A hologram formed over Tim's head, showing him tumbling across rooftops and then coming on alert. He remembered that night. It would have been virtually impossible to forget it, if only for the hope it had given him that his Jason would regain his sanity. So far, it didn't look like that was happening but Jason was much warier in the last few months. He hadn't committed quite as many crimes and didn't kill as much as he used to. He still used the identity of Red Hood but his actions hadn't been truly crazy for a while.

Of course, none of the Batfamily was giving him a second chance, which drove Tim crazy on a regular basis. He got more opportunities to reform than Jason did and Tim was an outsider. The sheer backwardness of it bothered him intensely.

"What is he _wearing?_ " the other Tim gasped.

It was close enough to an embarrassed squawk that Tim laughed and flipped himself up onto the ledge next to them. The other Tim was a couple of years older than Tim was, dressed in a suit that made Tim think he was a villain of some sort. The sheer amount of black leather, coupled with a blood-drenched cape edged with tatters and jagged mask made him look decidedly evil. The other Jason was wearing a very similar outfit as the last time he'd seen him, though with more leather this time and with a helmet that had a stylized phoenix on it. Only after the other Tim whirled to stare at Tim did he see the red helmet his counterpart carried with a similar bird motif on it.

"A catsuit of course," Tim said, smirking at his counterpart as he stood and cocked his head at him. "What else would I wear?"

"Nice," Jason drawled. When he pulled off his helmet he was grinning. "Is that thing painted on or what?"

"Spandex is a lovely thing," Tim said. "Strategic panels make it so much more comfortable than the old leather-only suit."

"No cup," the other Tim commented.

"I'm a thief, not a fighter," Tim replied. "I run away rather than get into fights."

"He's mine," the other Tim snarled with his eyes locked on Tim's rapidly responding groin.

"Pity," Tim sighed.

"How's the other Jason?" the Multiverse traveling Jason asked.

Tim sighed and looked out over the city rather than answer. He wasn't sure how to answer the question since his Jason wouldn't let him close anymore. Their old games of chase and capture appeared to be over, which really was a pity now that Tim wanted them to continue. The other Tim grumbled and glared at him, somehow collapsing his helmet into a small cylinder that he attached to his belt.

"Leave it be, Phoenix," the other Tim said.

"Phoenix?" Tim asked.

"I keep coming back so why not?" the other Jason, Phoenix, said with a grin. "It fits. He's Firebird."

"He's terrifying," Tim commented.

"Quite deliberately," Firebird said with a little sniff that was obviously directed at Tim's suit. "I'm playing the role of a villain barely rehabilitated for the moment. It's strategic."

Tim looked at him and smirked. To his amusement Firebird's cheeks went red in a blush that Tim's cheeks almost echoed. Phoenix snickered and collapsed his helmet too, tucking it into a pocket in his leather jacket.

"You're obviously enjoying it," Tim commented.

"So much," Firebird said, smirking right back at him despite the blush still staining his cheeks.

"Your Jason's being a stubborn idiot, isn't he?" Phoenix commented.

"It's not all his fault," Tim protested entirely too automatically for his attempt to look unconcerned. "The others aren't letting him back in or giving him any second chances."

"That sounds entirely too familiar," Firebird sighed.

Phoenix gave Firebird a hopeful look that earned him a tired sigh and Firebird rubbing his forehead as if this happened entirely too often. Tim chuckled at them, not that either of them noticed as they had an old married people conversation without words that made Tim wonder whether they actually were married.

Of course the thought of actually managing to get together with his Jason made him eminently grateful that his suit didn't have a cup. Maybe he could try again to bring Jason over to his side since the Batfamily refused to give him the second chance that he deserved. After a second Firebird threw his hands up in the air as if he couldn't believe he'd been argued into doing something stupid yet again. Phoenix grinned triumphantly so perhaps he had been.

"Let's see," Phoenix said while pressing buttons on his gauntlet. "Looks like the whole gang's off on Fifty-Second and Vine."

"Not again," Tim groaned.

"That one of his hideouts?" Phoenix asked.

"No, it's one of the places he's trying to clean up and Batman and Robin keep blocking him," Tim huffed. "I swear, they need to talk to each other."

Firebird pulled his helmet off of his belt, expanded it and then put it on again. "Then let's go give them something to discuss, why don't we?" His voice was raspy and dangerous sounding, like Batman gone feral or something entirely non-human pretending to be a man.

"…I want one of those distorters," Tim said after raking Firebird with a look from head to toe and back again. "I think I'm going to have to build one."

"Heh, have fun, Kitty Cat," Phoenix said before putting his helmet on. "Want a lift there?"

"You expect me to pass up the opportunity to get a closer look at your gear?" Tim asked in exactly Selina's archest tone. "Really now. Don't be silly. Of course I want a lift. Do we have a plan?"

"Depends on what we find," Firebird rasped.

He held out a hand that Tim took with some reluctance. That suit truly was intimidating, especially when coupled with Firebird's altered voice. There was a jerk-drop-twist sensation that made Tim wish that he actually had claws and a tail to puff out, and then they were on a rooftop with an excellent view of the battle going on between Jason, Batman, Robin and Nightwing. To his surprise, Steph was there as Batgirl, too, helping in what looked like an attempt to bring Jason down.

"Huh," Firebird said. "From the chatter they're working to capture and imprison him."

"For what?" Phoenix asked.

"Probably a series of murders and other crimes that I know he hasn't committed," Tim growled. "I've been tracking the person doing them but I haven't been able to stop him or get them to listen to me."

"Then let's give them someone else to focus on," Firebird said in the most distinctly evil tone of voice that Tim had ever heard.

"Head on in and I'll appear to try and stop you shortly after that," Phoenix said. "I'll bring the Kit with me."

"I really do have to come up with a better name," Tim sighed. "These nicknames are horrifically annoying."

"Personally, I'd go with Tiger," Firebird said in a nearly normal undertone. "Be careful, Phoenix."

"Will do."

Firebird disappeared and then reappeared in the middle of the battle with a flash of fire that made Jason jerk back and swear. Batman didn't hesitate. He attacked immediately, only to be hit by a blast that made him crumble to the street unconscious. Steph gasped. Dick shouted something incoherent while Damian charged at Firebird.

"Testy," Firebird growled, hopefully only stunning Damian before catching him by the front of his suit. "Pity it does him no good."

"Let him go!" Jason snarled.

He pulled a gun and pointed it at Firebird who cocked his head in exactly the right way to look amused by the sheer thought of being shot. When he laughed it was exactly the sort of sound to make Tim have nightmares for years. He tugged at Phoenix's arm but Phoenix just nodded, apparently waiting for something.

"Go ahead," Firebird purred, the sound almost like a growl because of the distorter. "You won't hurt me at all. Them maybe, but not me."

"What the hell do you want?" Jason snapped.

"Who are you?" Dick asked, in his own voice rather than Nightwing's.

"The fuck does it matter who he is?" Jason said with a quick glare at Steph and Dick. "He'd got Little D and B!"

Steph moved as if to attack and then impacted with a force field that flung her several yards. She shuddered and then collapsed unconscious. This time when Tim tugged on Phoenix's arm he patted Tim's hand. It was anything but reassuring.

"Let them go," Jason growled.

"Why should I?" Firebird asked as if amused by the question. "They're interfering in my activities. Of course, you're interfering too. I don't like it when people give my agents problems. People who do that tend to… go away. I think you all need to learn a lesson about interfering with my people's activities. Perhaps I'll deliver the brat back to you in pieces."

Both Jason and Dick stiffened at that. As Jason started swearing a blue streak and Firebird brought his arm up as if to blast Jason, Phoenix grabbed Tim and they teleported. Tim leaped at Jason, knocking him aside while Phoenix tackled Firebird and knocked Damian out of his hands. They tumbled in one direction while Tim and Jason went in the other direction.

"Don't do it!" Phoenix pleaded in a highly convincing desperate tone while struggling with Firebird. "Don't do it! You don't want to do this! Please, you promised that you wouldn't do this anymore."

"Get off!" Firebird shouted and then there was another flash of light and the two of them disappeared entirely.

Tim had ended up on top of Jason, one thigh between his legs. He scanned the area, looked at the rooftops to see if they were still around and then sighed with relief when he saw that they weren't. Jason had one arm wrapped around Tim's back and the other hand was pointing the gun around the area as if he was expecting to be attacked again at any moment. Dick was kneeling next to Batman, checking for a pulse. To Tim's immense relief, Dick sighed and relaxed after a moment.

"They're alive?" Tim asked. He slipped out of Jason's arms and helped him to his feet, still looking around for any sign of Phoenix and Firebird.

"Yes," Dick said in a shaking voice as he checked Damian and then Steph. "They've been knocked out but they're alive. Who were they?"

"I don't know the whole story," Tim said, one hand on Jason's stomach to keep him from going straight over to Batman, Robin and Batgirl to check for himself. "I've been tracking the murders in town for a while but I haven't been able to determine exactly who was responsible for them. Tonight I encountered the second one, Phoenix. He was looking for Firebird, the one you encountered. Apparently he's trying to reform Firebird, bring him back from the wrong side of the law. I was able to tell him that you had been trying to clean things up around here," Tim looked at Jason who frowned at him, "and he brought us here just in time to see the confrontation. I have to assume that he used their tech to take Firebird away."

"Wait," Dick said while staring at Jason, "you haven't been behind the murders?"

"Fuck you very much, Dickie-bird," Jason snarled. "No I haven't! You act like a person can't change."

"I ah, do have some information on why you went crazy," Tim said when Dick and Jason glared at each other.

They stared at him, Jason with a frown and Dick with a hopeful expression. Tim smiled at Jason, feeling better about the whole mess for the first time since Jason had gone crazy. Maybe things wouldn't get better after this but then again, could they get any worse?

"It has to do with the Multiverse," Tim said and nodded as Jason started and stared at him. "It's kind of a long story. Maybe it would be good to get them somewhere safe to recover before we talk about it."

"Good idea, Kitten!" Dick said.

"I really hate that nickname," Tim groaned as Dick checked the others quickly and then went down the block to get the Batmobile.

"… They seriously behind it all?" Jason asked in a low enough tone that no one but Tim could hear it.

"No," Tim said with a wry smile, "but are you going to turn down a second chance when you get it?"

Jason grinned at him just like he used to before he'd died, been resurrected and then gone crazy. Tim's heart fluttered, not that he let it show anywhere but his incompliant groin. After a moment Jason nodded at Tim.

"Guess not," Jason said. "Thanks, Kitten."

He laughed at Tim's annoyed growl, not that Tim was as annoyed when Jason used it as when someone else did it. Dick returned with the Batmobile which meant that there wasn't time for any more discussion. Tim didn't really care. He might not have gotten what he'd intended to steal this evening but he thought that he'd acquired something much more precious instead.

+++++

Tim struggled with Jason, doing his best to make their little battle look convincing as they tumbled, rolled three times and then transitioned universes in a flash of light from Jason's gauntlet. They landed on sand and rolled twice more, ending up with Jason on top and Tim underneath him. For a long moment they stared at each other and then both of them started laughing. His laughter sounded strange because of the distorter but Tim truly didn't care. Hopefully Kitten Tim would be able to save his Jason after their little display because Tim didn't think that he could keep a straight face any longer.

"Freeze, damn it!" another Jason snapped.

When Tim looked he realized that they were looking at the Robins' Jason, complete with guitar behind him and a gun in his hand. Dick was behind him with escrima sticks that looked as though they were actually drum sticks, with Steph, Tim and Damian protecting Alfred in the background.

"Hey guys," Jason said, sitting back and pulling off his helmet. He was grinning ear to ear when he pulled off his helmet. "Sorry to drop in on you that way. Just helping out a different Tim and Jason pair."

"Oh for fuck's sake," Jay growled. He moved his gun off target and thumbed the safety. "The hell is with those costumes?"

"I get to play barely rehabilitated villain," Tim said, deliberately triggering the distorter to turn his voice into a not even vaguely human snarl.

He shoved Jason off of his hips and then stood to brush the sand off. From the look in Damian's eyes, he was coveting the uniform in a very serious way while Steph and Dick both looked profoundly disturbed by it. They all seemed relieved when Tim took off his helmet.

"Sorry about that," Tim said, grinning. "Sometimes it's entirely too much fun playing a reformed villain."

The other Tim's lips were twitching as if he found the idea massively appealing. He cocked his head at Tim, eyeing the costume appreciatively. Before he could say anything Jay caught the look and started shaking his head 'no'.

"Oh no, we are not wearing costumes like that on stage!" Jay snarled. "No fucking way, no how!"

"Oooooooooooh!" Dick cooed with so much delight that Jason started laughing again. "That would be great!"

"Do not even think about it!" Damian snapped. "That would be ridiculous, even for you!"

"But it could have sequins and gold and--"

"No!" Damian, Jason, Steph and Tim all shouted.

"Now something a little darker, edgier, that might be okay," Tim said slyly once Dick's excitement had deflated into a pout that made Tim lean into Jason's side and laugh.

That made Dick excited again which seemed to be excuse enough to pull off the gauntlets and peel of the mask Tim wore under his helmet while the Robins argued and teased and blew off the tension of their abrupt arrival with some gentle and good-natured teasing. Jason was doing the same so apparently this was where they were going to relax for the evening. Tim couldn't object to that. The Robins' verse was a relatively safe one and they appeared to be at their beach house.

The beach house itself was a big airy thing with lots of glass windows that Tim assumed were made of bullet-proof glass while the deck that led down to the beach was clearly made of fire resistant materials that would stand up to a full assault. Several instruments besides Jason's guitar rested on the lowest step of the stairs from the deck to the beach. They had a small fire going with a bag of marshmallows and what looked to be a box of graham crackers and some chocolate bars so obviously the agenda for their evening before Tim and Jason interrupted was signing around the campfire and s'mores.

After a moment the other Timothy separated himself from the teasing to come over to Tim and Jason's side.

"Staying for a while?" Timothy asked.

"A couple of hours if that's okay with you," Jason said. "We're kind of on vacation though we did patrol for a couple of hours tonight."

"Did something happen?" Timothy asked with enough concern that the Robins stopped teasing each other to focus on Tim and Jason.

"Mmm, just an age reversion," Tim sighed. "I was four for several weeks and decided that some exploration would be good before getting back into the swing of things."

"You know," Jay said thoughtfully, "that's one of the things that I really don't fucking miss at all. All the weird random crap that went down."

That set off a wave of remembrances of the weird things that they'd experienced. Timothy chuckled and let Tim follow him up into the beach house for more comfortable clothing while Jason stayed down on the beach to try and top Jay and Damian's weird episodes. Given some of the things he'd experienced while traveling through the Multiverse Tim thought that Jason would win easily. However, as they went up the stairs Damian was telling stories about Professor Pyg so it might not be as easy of a win as it first seemed.

"They'll be that for hours," Timothy sighed.

"Are you all right?" Tim asked. "You seem a little off."

"Mmm," Timothy murmured while carefully picking out clothes for Tim to change into.

He paused when Tim put a hand on his shoulder, sighing quietly. When he finally turned to meet Tim's eyes there was entirely too much pain and sorrow in his expression. Tim took the pants and hoodie that Timothy offered, trying to express with one raised eyebrow that he'd be willing to listen if Timothy wanted to talk about it but that it wasn't by any means required. The nonverbal offer appeared to work because Timothy smiled gratefully.

"Ra's… decided that I was interesting," Timothy said. He nodded agreement at the way Tim stiffened in horror. "He kidnapped me and the others only recently got me back. We're… still feeling things out. It doesn't look as though Ra's will try again but it was a… difficult experience."

Timothy winced when Tim put a hand on his shoulder but the wince was relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. If it had been Tim and as bad as Timothy obviously didn't want Tim to know, Tim suspected that he would be so touch phobic that people wouldn't be able to get within a dozen yards of him. The silence between them spoke of memories of Janet, Jack, Robin and Bruce, Batman and his many enemies. When Timothy smiled it was wry and small, full of the pain of being helpless and unable to protect himself.

Rather than say something trite and meaningless, Tim disarmed his new suit and stripped out of it. That allowed Timothy to catalog the scars that Tim had gathered that Timothy didn't have. The bare lean line of Tim's body seemed to disturb Timothy. He frowned and rested his fingers over the scar where Tim had lost his spleen to one of the assassins in the Tournament before allowing his fingers to drift across Tim's stomach.

"I forgot how lean we got," Timothy murmured.

"Alfred's constantly at me to eat more," Tim sighed. "So is Jason for that matter. Especially lately. I lost a lot of weight with the age reversion, plus coming back to my proper age left me severely bruised over my entire body."

"Four," Timothy commented with just enough horror to make Tim duck his head and laugh silently.

"Damian… found it quite hard to cope with me," Tim offered. "I um, preferred him over everyone else. Yes, including Jason. I could almost remember my life but the memories kept slipping away when I reach for them. With Damian everything was clear and simple, plus our Damian is young enough that he couldn't hide how upset he was by the change."

Timothy nodded thoughtfully. "That would be easier to deal with."

The jeans and hoodie fit fairly well though Tim did need to have a belt to keep the pants up. Timothy carefully folded Tim's uniform, raising an eyebrow at some of the circuitry inside the gauntlets. There were questions in his eyes but he didn't ask them. Tim returned the courtesy by not asking exactly what Ra's had done and whether Timothy thought that he'd ever return to normal again. It was a stupid question anyway. The others wouldn't let Timothy suffer forever. They'd find ways to make him happy, no matter what it took.

Together they slowly headed back towards the beach. Tim looked around the beach house, smiling. It was very nice, open and airy but with enough defenses to feel safe to him. If Ra's had taken Timothy for a while the security was probably very important.

"Has he caused you trouble?" Timothy asked. He was watching the others through the windows as he spoke.

"Ra's?" Tim asked. "Oh yes. He decided I needed to father his heir a while ago and sent a woman to capture and rape me. Cass made sure she didn't succeed. He's… Ra's."

Timothy started to say something but nothing coherent came out so Tim reached out and pulled him into a hug. Despite the way he was shaking, Timothy resisted for a moment. It didn't take too long before he was clinging to Tim, face buried in his shoulder.

"I hate being helpless!" Timothy hissed.

"Completely agreed," Tim sighed, thinking of his confusion and being so small that he couldn't do anything on his own.

"I don't want to, to need everyone's help," Timothy sighed a few moments later.

He scrubbed at his face to erase the tears that Tim would never comment on. Timothy started in surprise when he saw that there were tears in Tim's eyes too. He mouthed something that Tim didn't bother to try to interpret before touching Tim's cheek hesitantly.

"I was so small," Tim whispered. "I didn't understand what was going on. Jason looked at me and I felt something but the emotions slipped away every time I tried to focus on them. There was so much pain in his eyes and fear and loss. He'd smile and it was as though he was doing his best to hide how much he missed me even though I was right there in front of him. Dick kept hugging me to the point I couldn't breathe and Steph, God, Steph kept bursting into tears when she didn't think I could see or hear her. Even Alfred had a hard time coping with the changes."

"And Bruce?" Timothy asked. He'd started rubbing Tim's side as Tim talked to comfort him.

"Even he showed the strain," Tim sighed. "It was so hard. The worst part was that I couldn't hide a single thing. Every emotion, every fear, every time I tried to remember something and couldn't, it was all there for them to see. I swear, it felt as though I was losing them over and over again because they had lost me somehow."

"Weird," Timothy said, moving back in for another hug that was more contemplative than comforting. "That's very close to how I feel about my whole mess."

Tim laughed, giving his other self a firm enough hug that he grunted and smacked Tim's hip. That led to them play-wrestling for a moment until Timothy used a move that Tim wasn't familiar with to get free. He shook his head at Tim's eager look, though his lips were twitching with amusement when Tim visibly pouted at him. In retribution Tim shrugged and put on a superior air that he knew wasn't terribly effective. He was grinning too much.

"It's no surprise that you feel the same way that I do," Tim said slyly enough that Timothy squawked before he was done talking. "After all, you're a copy of me."

"Excuse me," Timothy said in their best pissy tone. "You're the copy of me, not the other way around."

They looked at each other and laughed, heading down the stairs to join the others still laughing. Both Jason's looked at them with questions in their eyes but Tim and Timothy shook their heads no in perfect unison. Tim sat with Jason while Timothy settled between Dick and Jay. Damian was busily toasting marshmallows to exactly the right level of softness. He gave the first one to Timothy and then after a moment's study the second to Tim.

"Hey, I thought I got that one!" Steph protested.

"You can have the next one," Damian said as if he was a king passing out presents to the commoners.

"Were you telling stories?" Tim asked Jason. His s'more turned out pretty much perfectly once he'd combined all the ingredients.

"Not about you," Jason said with a shrug.

Damian smiled at Timothy before nodding to Tim. "Laughter is… welcome lately."

His comment caught both Tim and Timothy in the middle of taking bites of their s'mores. Tim laughed while Timothy grinned and shrugged. He could see a million questions in the other Robin's eyes but that really didn't matter at the moment.

"Agreed," Timothy said.

"Laughter is always welcome," Tim agreed. "Always."

They shared a look that probably only Jason and Jay could interpret. Certainly things could and very likely would get bad at points but they had their families. As long as he wasn't alone, Tim knew that he could accomplish anything. And every version of himself that he'd met was the same way. If there was laughter and love then the hard times could be dealt with and put behind him.

Come what may, Tim was intensely grateful that his Jason had come back to him and had given him a whole new life to live.

The End


End file.
